Jenny Viera, "Paint Your Own Bible!"

“Paint Your Own Bible!”
Performance Art Piece by Juanita Jenny Viera
Time: Approx. 20 min.

Description: The table is set up with four bibles on each side, one at the front of the table, and one at the end. There are tea light candles in front of each bible. I am dressed in a conservative outfit consisting of a skirt, blouse, and white blazer, and my feet are bare. I commenced the performance by opening some oil paints and slowly painting the cover of the Bible in front of me. I let the audience decided whether they want to use the materials in front of them to start painting their own Bibles. The whole group was hesitant. Then I began spray painting the edges of my Bible with red spray paint. This initiated a few other people to start decorating their Bibles with watercolor, acrylic, oil, and spray paint. Some chose not to touch the actual text of their Bible, and instead they ripped out the dedication page, or table of contents, and painted on that. As this activity went on, the audio component of my piece could be heard throughout the room. I recorded three days worth of prayers that I had made on a tape recorder. Each time one of the prayers ended, I would say “Amen” and then continue painting my Bible. When the last prayer was heard, I knelt at the front of the table and said “Amen.” I went over to my book bag, and took out a pair of jeans, a hooded black sweatshirt, earrings and some sneakers. I transformed before the class into how I usually dress, and then I began to paint my nails black. When the change was complete I took my painted Bible, put it into my backpack, and exited the room. This signaled the end of my performance.


Artist’s Statement: This piece was inspired by my thoughts on ritual, religion, and tradition. I realized that as I had grown up in the Pentecostal religion, there were many aspects of it that I didn’t comprehend or agree with. I was told to wear skirts only, never dye or cut my hair, never paint my nails, not to dance, or listen to secular music, or swim, etc, I didn’t understand these restrictions and how they kept one close to God and separate from the world. I wanted to be a part of the world, because I had to live in it. Getting accepted into a performance arts high school changed my perspective profoundly. I realized that in a sense my religion was keeping me from culture. I learned that being close to God, or just maintaining a healthy spiritual life, does not have to consist of following a set of rules, but of one’s own searching and desire to know God and love him, and love others. I have learned metaphorically, paint the Bible in my own colors, in colors that I can understand and find beautiful. I find the testimonies of Jesus being open-minded and kind-hearted to all individuals deeply meaningful, and this is what I have chosen to focus on, not on the discrimination and guilt that people have taught me through their interpretations of the Bible.

This performance was not only a challenge for me in that it forced me to question my beliefs, and why I pray and read the Bible. It was also a challenge to my audience. The amount of knowledge and respect for the Bible was tested by the pressure I added unto my audience to paint on their Bibles. Revelation ends with these verses:
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.
So there is an explicit warning against adding or taking away from the Bible, in the Bible itself. Despite this, I feel like the Bible is very subjective and has been used for good and harm. We all create our own meaning, and our sense of what it means to be alive, and who/what it is that’s above us.
The changing of my clothes symbolized the way I had transitioned from being a part of a religious community and into being a part of my peers at high school. It also was representative of the struggle I faced as I tried to embrace what I really wanted to wear, instead of what I had to. I think that humans are the only ones concerned which superficial issues and a higher beings would think of this as vanity.
The end product of my performance shows that this process of finding one’s own faith and meaning can be beautiful. Just as all the painted and not painted Bibles are.