In Paulo Lima’s mind, a rusty piece of wire in the middle of the street was a great topper for one of his sculptures. Even though he thought the metal had been run over by a car, it didn’t matter.
“I picked it up in the middle of the street, like, ‘Oh my God. This is a beautiful hat,’” Lima recalled.
See the campus gallery
Paulo Lima’s exhibit, Dreams and Revelations, is on display at the Ann Foxworthy Gallery until Dec. 4. The artist reception is on Oct. 17 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the gallery, and his artist’s talk is Nov. 6 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Fine Arts Complex (Building F, Room 225). The gallery is located inside the Academic Resource Center at 800 S. College Drive in Santa Maria. It’s open Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
He saved it for months, like he does with many of the materials he collects, until he found a place for it on one of his figures.
“That’s exactly how I envisioned it,” Lima said.
Another time he gathered seed pods that fell from a tree in a Santa Barbara park. By making holes in the hollow pods and stringing them together, Lima created a skirt for a sculpture.
“Sometimes it’s just random stuff like bottle caps or buttons or metal pieces,” he said. “I think it’s interesting because it has an interesting design or an interesting texture. I pick it up and I take it to my studio.”
For most of his career, Lima repurposed materials into his own art, searching in places like the thrift store, the ground outside, and even other countries. Usually, it’s easy for him to look at his materials and find pieces that complement each other.
“There is this beauty, I think, in discarded materials and recycled materials that can be transformed,” he said.
Lima does more than sculpt figures and design their outfits. He also creates using clay, paint, and a camera. The four forms—sculpture, ceramics, photography, and painting—are featured in his show, Dreams and Revelations, at Allan Hancock College’s Ann Foxworthy Gallery until Dec. 4.
Born in Brazil, Lima’s journey as an artist has led him across the world. He started by studying acting in São Paulo, later moving to the U.S. for a master’s degree in costume design. Then Lima pursued a doctorate, taking his own photos in Brazil for a dissertation on theater and performance focusing on Brazilian religious expression. Some of those photos are part of Dreams and Revelations.
“It’s about culture. It’s learning about how people see the world around them,” Lima said. “All the things inform my work, and traveling expands your vision.”
During his education, Lima discovered figures inspired by Brazilian Baroque art called santos, which are saints displayed in Catholic churches in Latin America and other countries.
Through trial and error at first, Lima started structuring cloth dolls and hardening the outside with paper mâché. His passion for fashion design and drawing translated to dressing the figures.
Now he uses clay for ceramic santos, ranging between 27 and 47 inches tall. After he sculpts one, it dries for a week and then is fired twice and glazed. The whole process can take more than a month, and then he starts to dress it.
Lima’s Santa Barbara studio is a “sacred place,” where he keeps himself busy. The materials he stores there often inform what projects he’ll take on next.
“There is never a dull moment,” he said. “I’m constantly making something.”
Lima uses mixed media outside of his sculptures, too. His paintings often feature a three-dimensional element, like wood or fabric on top of the canvas.
“I’m always looking at shapes and colors and textures,” Lima said. “Those are things that attract me when I make my work.”
Lima is also a professor at Cal Poly Pomona and Loyola Marymount University. He’s still learning, too, taking a ceramics class at Santa Barbara City College. Four koi that Lima made in class will be displayed in Dreams and Revelations, along with a horse and a female torso.
To accommodate his careers as a teacher and an artist, he splits his time between LA and Santa Barbara. He’s happy to have the opportunity to share his art in Santa Maria.
“It’s important to have kind of a connection between North County and the southern part,” Lima said, “to share the love.”
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 16 – Oct 23, 2025.