My name is Jean Pierre Cardona Pichardo, I am a concept illustrator and Manga artist (Japanese comics) born in San Juan Puerto Rico based in Salem. For my mural, I went for a simple layout of a Vejigante mask (traditional Puerto Rican festive mask) and an Amapola flower (national Puerto Rican flower) in a sort of logo way.
I chose the mask as a symbol of our people’s resilience to still smile in the face of adversity and the monstrous force that my island is capable of handling time and time again. The flower is to help reflect the beauty and nature aspect about our island and the importance of our ecosystem and the many life it harbors, some that are only able to exist in such a specific environment, which is why its important to care for, at least that was the message growing up over there.
