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Brutal Michael

Brutal Michel, son of Cecile Casseus and Brutal Saint-Clearly, is the
eldest in a family of ten children. He blesses the work that enables him
to send his two younger brothers and his own daughter to school. Though he
seems to carry his burdens with joy, he says frankly, “This trade is very
important for me. My family was completely poor and is thanks to this
trade that I manage to support on my shoulders the loads of my family in
general.”

Beginning with “the business of irons cut out” in 1987, Brutal is grateful
for the teachings of others, but regrets never having had the opportunity
to study directly under Serge Jolimeau and Gabriel Bon Amie. His
admiration for their work is unmistakable, however, as the theme of La
Sirene and the dimensionality of his bird figures attest.

Now running his own workshop, he takes his inspiration from, “Nature like trees and that by the sea, such as mermaids, the tortoise, fish, and so much other.” As
did many of his countrymen, he felt acutely the horrors of the January 2010 earthquake that, “devastated our beloved Haiti.” But with a confounding graciousness in the face of staggering hardship, he recognizes the favors that he has received in his life and seeks to return them in kind.