Hands-on Creativity

By recapturing tasks that are traditionally considered “domestic”, Cadu overcomes the limits imposed by gender and associated with handicraft, raising it to the status of great art.

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The art of being oneself requires a great deal of courage. In a society that continuously imposes people to follow a traditional path, breaking expectations and doing what one really enjoys is something revolutionary.

Carlos Eduardo, a.k.a. Cadu, 30, is an example of such a revolutionary. A designer by trade, he dedicates his spare time to different hobbies, such as embroidery and other handwork.

Since he was young, he’s enjoyed doing things by hand. Growing up with his father, mother, and two sisters, the youngest one was always encouraged to develop and express his creativity the way he pleased, without any judgement.

When he was a child, and being the only son, he would see his two sisters, Ariadne and Sabrina, playing with dolls. And their mother would sew little pieces of clothes for the dolls. Despite being activities socially regarded as meant for women, he was inspired by his mother and valued her talent as a seamstress.

Cadu definitely doesn’t mind having been influenced by the so-called “feminine universe”. On the contrary, he is proud of this influence, and today he transforms all this knowledge into art he does with his own hands.

In 2006, he took the entrance exam at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, to study Biology. In the third year, he started an internship at the Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden, where one of the tasks was to create plant models in tridimensional structures, so that people with visual impairments — and everyone else as well — could come in contact with the species displayed in the museum.

After this experience, Cadu felt very pleased in having taken part of creating those models — he was also responsible for all the graphic design in the project. After graduating as a biologist, in 2010, Cadu started another university course, Graphic Design, at the State University of Minas Gerais.

“When I have a clear objective, I just do it. I am not afraid of taking risks. I see if it’s something I want, and if it is, I go for it.”

And it was then that he discovered a world of artistry inside himself that, up to that moment, hadn’t found space to bloom. With the new set of classes, came new experiences, and interests in activities such as handicraft and customization.

From that moment on, Cadu put into practice an investment plan for his life. And as soon as he landed his first internship in Design, in 2012, he left home. He was 24 years old.

To save some money, he brought out his DIY instinct and started customizing his own clothes. He turned pants into shorts, t-shirts into tank tops. Everything that could be changed, he turned into something else, and felt a sense of fulfillment in being able to customize his own things, instead of just buying them as they were.

Cadu improved his skills in stylization and started to embroider, which was yet another way for him to express his personality through handiwork. And although this is an activity usually associated with grandmas, he found in the textile arts a psychological subterfuge, and a source of extra income.

In 2016, he graduated from University for the second time. In the same year, he applied for the position of designer at Hotmart, recommended by a friend, Izabela, who already worked there. His personal style and fondness for “getting hands-on” were some of the attributes that made him into a HotTrooper. Today, he works in the User Acquisition team, creating layouts and sales pages to attract new users to the platform.

“I apply a lot of what I do as a designer in these activities outside of the workplace. I explore the simple side of things and create things I like, with Paçoca [his pet cat] by my side.”

Completely engaged in his work, Cadu ponders if he will continue with the embroidery. For the moment, he keeps on embroidering as a therapeutic hobby, filled with sentiment. His story shows us that turning memories into hobbies is a way of allowing oneself to grow, and at the same time, keep being oneself.