In other works, such as the diptych “Tlazolteotl as a Horse (Aztec Deity of Midwives),” the metaphor in the title becomes literal. In Aztec belief, the goddess ingested filth to protect mothers from illness, but in Armendariz’s painting she has swallowed instruments of war instead. In horse form, the goddess traverses a moody landscape, a military helicopter nestled in her abdomen like a fetus.

“I was thinking about border politics,” he said. “I’m from El Paso, and security is always an issue on everybody’s mind, and so that’s really where this piece came from — thinking about that and my indigenous background and how important storytelling is to our culture.”