Yara

Woodcut print on Werkdruck paper (Edition of 12), 60 x 50 cm, €550

The nature around my little Brazilian hometown of Caxias was magnificent. Many Babassu palm trees and fruit trees were part of our tropical universe. We saw or imagined mermaids swimming and having fun with us in the river. The legend of Yara, Queen of Sweet Waters, was very popular at the time. We believed there was a mermaid queen in every freshwater stream who would protect us from alligators and anacondas.

This piece is from Dreams and Memories, a series of 25 woodcuts I made to honor my beloved hometown of Caxias in Brazil’s Maranhão State. Caxienses are very religious and superstitious people, practicing traditions that come from Yoruba African, indigenous, and Portuguese cultures. The exhibition was held in the small town’s beautiful mansion of Mr. A. Silva, Caxias’s richest man—a place of fear and curiosity.