About Sarah Montoya

Artist for Elizabeth Hawes’ Portrait

Artist Statement
When I sit down to draw or paint, I usually go with what I feel in the moment. I express my experiences, situations, and feelings through art. Other people incarcerated within CCWF have recognized my talent and put in requests for me to make them family gifts, often with calligraphy writing. I also make stuffed animals for other mothers incarcerated to send to their children at home. This has sparked a passion within me that I want to continue when I parole. 

I use a variety of mediums or materials such as drawing pencils, pens, markers, acrylic, watercolors, pastels and collage with magazines. I make stuffed animals with shirts bought from vendors allowed in quarterly boxes, or donations from others. I use acrylics to paint on faces and features, or to dye the materials. 

I grew up in a muliti-cultural family of artists and found inspiration from them. I explored various materials, methods, and mediums until I found drawing, tattooing, and most importantly making stuffed animals. Stuffed animals are a way I can help families reunite even while separated by barbed wire and brick walls. In this work I feel a sense of making amends with society. 

Artist Bio 
Sarah Montoya was born and raised in Los Angeles, California with Mexican and Native American roots. From a young age, her artistic interests ranged from piano to various dance styles such as Aztec, Folklorico, tap, jazz and ballet, as well as drawing, painting, tattooing, and silk screening. At CCWF, she’s drawn posters for COVID awareness, and continues to paint pictures and affirmations on the sidewalks around the facility. Her portrait of incarcerated writer Elizabeth Hawes is included in the exhibition Return to Sender: Prison as Censorship, fall 2023. Currently, Sarah is illustrating a children's book for terminally ill and disabled children and she makes stuffed animals and mails them out to children whose mothers are incarcerated. She hopes to continue the craft as a business endeavor when she paroles. 

Visual Description: A framed portrait of Daniel Pirkel on the left wearing a blue and yellow shirt with a solid brown background, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Prikel’s censored text. 

A framed black and white pencil on paper portrait of Elizabeth Haws with a scale in the background, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Haws’s censored text. 

A framed colored pencil on paper portrait of Derek Trumbo with a yellow background, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Trumbo’s censored text. 

Near cell wall:
On the right is a framed photograph of Kwaneta Harris, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Harris’s censored text. 

On the left is a framed photograph of Zhi Kai in their graduation gown and cap, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Kai’s censored text.