Project by Sebastian Irizarry
“Aunque siembren las raíces como les dé la gana, los palos de guanábana no dan manzanas.” “Even if they plant the roots however they want, guanábana trees do not give apples.” These words by Puerto Rican rapper Residente are the foundation of my mask. They speak to Puerto Rico’s struggle under colonial pressure, showing that identity cannot be reshaped by force. This mask is a vejigante, una criatura colorida y casi maligna en su apariencia, que nace de la mezcla Africana, Española y Taína. For centuries, the vejigante has been un guardián cultural, un símbolo de resistencia. It is playful, intimidating, and alive, like un cemí that carries the memory and spirit of our people. In my design, the two horns of the vejigante transform into árboles de guanábana. At their base, the surface shows la textura de la guanábana, rooting the mask en lo nuestro. The branches spread with guanábana leaves, but instead of guanábanas they bear apples, hanging like ornaments that do not belong. Ese injerto no es inocente. The guanábana tree is Puerto Rico, auténtico, nacido de su propia tierra. The apples are los deseos del imperio, the pressure to change us, to make us produce what we were never meant to give. They can graft, they can demand, they can disguise, but they cannot rewrite nuestra raíz. We are guanábana. Y siempre lo seremos.“
