Maria Pó started in 2007, the year in which a humble Portuguese artist and her family suffered the zenith of the European economic crisis in their own home. There were just a few blocks of clay left and no money to invest in the small family business. The feeling of frustration and impotence regarding that distressing situation and the artist’s critical look over society led her to start moulding
little statues representing the ‘blindness’ and idleness of the people towards the economic and political state of the country. Although at the time she didn't believe in the power of those small creatures, because the artist herself was starting to feel like the rest of the folk, luckily and prophetically, her Polish husband, the painter Jacek Piątkiewicz made her see that they were magical, and could help restore the balance of the family budget. And there they were, witnessing the astonishing birth of the first Pasmadinho. Pasmadinhos are still a great help for the family and have turned out to be their main breadwinner. With their vibrant colours, they have been spreading trough the country and abroad with great success. They have been such a source of transformation, that the artist Elsa Rodrigues embodies Maria Pó while she is making them.
