This painting was the first in my ‘ancient warriors’ collection, and what inspired it all. I find the samurai code of honor, Bushido, very inspiring and admirable. And the samurai armor is so beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to me that I had to paint it. I wanted to paint the samurai with his shoulders hunched and tired, as if he just went through a battle. I also wanted his eyes not to show through the mask. I painted cherry blossoms because the contrast of something so beautiful and delicate next to something so deadly was extremely appealing to me. Also, in my research on Samurai symbolism, I read that a fallen cherry blossom symbolizes a fallen samurai who sacrificed his life for the emperor. I wanted viewers to reflect on the delicate balance between life and death, beauty and brutality. I can’t always articulate my paintings since they start as an aesthetic idea that hopefully evokes an emotion in the viewer. Explaining them too much is difficult for me. So I asked a talented writer, my brother Christian Riverón, to articulate the three biggest paintings into short stories and to help me paint a better picture of these warriors through his words. *Original Painting will come with the printed short story