Ricardo Ramos ?– Xico Gaivota
Ricardo Ramos Xico Gaivota
Ricardo Ramos, or Xico Gaivota, was born in Lisbon in 1978. First with wood, then with iron, paper, fiberglass or stone, Ricardo always surprised us with his creations, and although everyone encouraged him to hold on to his talent and to keep on creating, he seemed to show some lack of interest once he overcame the challenge that led him to explore each material.
A few years ago, he left aside wood, especially carpentry, and showed some interest in 3D modelling. However, it now seems that 3D modelling should be a means, rather than an end, to create and build or rebuild and deconstruct, over and over again, and also to work his mind anticipating the works he now creates. It can be said now that an apparent erratic path was actually always part of a plan, a way to bring Ricardo to where he is now.
The relationship between Ricardo and the sea is special and it goes back to his childhood. After many years living at and from the sea, and with the birth of his children, he felt the need to share his passion and way of life, starting, without noticing, to act with determination towards the problems that impact not only the future generations, but also our generation.
Ricardo soon realised that all the beaches with no commercial exploration and specially the ones with tough access, much of them of a singular beauty, withhold all the shame of human kind in the form of trash, mainly plastic.
Driven by a passion and fascination by plastic fragments, aside from the environmental need to collect them and keep them away from nature, he is always thinking different possibilities to use them in his works. He looks for them as if they were a treasure, with its perfectly rounded edges, vibrant or worn colours and incredible shapes, alongside with the journey they had until they ended up in his hands.
Once he collects it, it stops being trash and becomes pieces worth of respect. Pieces that Ricardo puts together, but does not manipulate, paint, cut or fold.
https://www.xicogaivota.com/