The playful and colorful universe of Fábio Francino

Born in Divinópolis and a resident of Bichinho, a district of Prados (MG), since he was 12 years old, **Fábio Francino** grew up surrounded by artisans. His father made baskets, and part of the family also lived off manual work. While still young, he went to the Oficina de Agosto, where he learned about furniture finishing and mastered the delicate work of Minas Gerais flower decorations. **It was there that craftsmanship ceased to be just a heritage and began to become a language.** Among the references that marked him are Alberto José, the **Berzé**, a painter and illustrator who taught him the basic principles of proportion, and **Itamar Julião**, a self-taught sculptor whose playful poetics awakened his enchantment. The playful, in fact, permeates all his work, and what awakened this passion was the circus, a spectacle that arrived from time to time at the field and opened windows to the imagination. This colorful and fanciful universe remains alive in his creations, populated by tall-legged figures, animals, and characters in constant motion. “**The definition of [my] identity was a process.** As an artisan, I worked with the head, but it limited me with movement issues,” he says. It was then that he migrated to **papier-mâché**, where he found more freedom. But this relationship matured over time. “I struggled with the papier-mâché, which is a bit alive, and I like to say that I went through therapy to accept it,” laughs Fábio. The texture, flexibility, and timing of the material required patience and dedication. **But it is there, in papier-mâché, that his figures gain their own soul and body, sometimes human, sometimes animal, and at times both.** “The hybrid comes a bit from the carnival question. They are metaphors I use based on religiosity and literary references,” he explains. The production process is done in layers and requires rhythm and discipline. “I became aware of productivity, so I work every three months. It requires a lot of my patience because I get anxious wanting to see the finished work,” he says. This routine reveals an **affective bond** with his creations. “I start getting attached to the characters, like the tall legs, the balloon animals... **These pieces where I can print more of my identity**, I get attached to them,” explains the artisan. The Creative Week of Tiradentes, idealized by Simone Quintas and Júnior Guimarães, played an important role in his journey. **In 2025, Fábio was the honored guest of the event** and presented the exhibition In the ring of imagination: the art of Fábio Francino. “Simone knew the artisans of the region very well from the beginning of the Week. She invited me to participate in workshops and proposed exchanges with designers and other artisans. It’s a huge experience. I know several artisans who were also impacted by the Week,” he points out. These connections helped him better understand his own craft. “I, as an artisan, didn't have much knowledge regarding the audience. We need these exchanges to understand our work and who our audience is.” Between laughter and reflections, Fábio summarizes the importance of recognizing oneself in this process: “people go to the field and don’t see the power that the work has. Sometimes I’m in that simple place, and people don’t see the strength. **We need to shift our work to other places so that they understand its power.** And so that we, as artisans, understand it too.” But faced with such talent, it is not difficult to understand that his creations are about to move, as if, at any moment, the tall-legged figures and balloon animals decided to set off on a journey, taking with them the creative potential of the artist.