Darwin the artist

Nineteen-year-old Darwin Rodrigues is an artist.

Darwin grabs his machete and leads me to his backyard. He slices a piece of bark off the chanchama tree and tears off the rough outer layer. He lightly taps the soft, white remnants with his machete, creating criss-crossing grooves that ooze with sticky liquid, like syrup on waffles. Then he stretches the bark to three times its original size.
"This is how I make my canvas," Darwin says.

Next, Darwin rips off a green, fuzzy fruit off a neighboring achiote tree. He splits the fruit in half like a plastic easter egg, and red seeds spill out. He rubs the seeds between his fingers. Red juice dribbles down his palm.
"This is how I make my paints."

If you´re interested in a Darwin original, send me a message and I´ll hook you up.