HAUNTING IMAGES BY LOCAL ARTIST DEPICT BORDER ISSUES

(Ed.'s Note: Local artist Kalista Montoya is causing a stir with her oil on canvas paintings depicting border issues such as the the effects of the Border Wall on local residents. Montoya, a Texas Southmost College art student, painted the unnamed picture above for a recent exhibition at the college. The haunting image depicts a mother braiding her daughter's hair separated by the steel bars and symbolic scissors cutting off the blooms from the stems on the ground beside her. Truth in advertising: The artist is the niece of El Rrun-Rrun's publisher. The painting now hangs on her grandmother's living room wall.

 

Another of the artist's paintings is the ghoulish rendition of an SUV crashing into a group of migrants next to the Ozonam Emergency Center on Minnesota Road. Eight migrants were killed and 10 others critically injured on May 7, 2023, when an SUV plowed into a crowd waiting at a bus stop outside the center. Most of the victims were Venezuelan asylum-seekers. In the painting, the victims are linked by a red vein line and hearts.

The driver, George Alvarez, was detained at the scene by witnesses and subsequently arrested. Toxicology reports showed he had drugs in his system, including cocaine, benzodiazepines, and marijuana. He was charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault, and his trial proceeded through mid-2024. He was convicted and his conviction is now under appeal.)