As a way of exploring my own complicated relationship with religion, I created this piece to show how our interpretation of religious texts are hindering our ability to be as accepting and loving as we claim to be. “All That Is Right & Just” invites its audience to examine how biblical texts — which have been translated for centuries and manipulated by unjust systems of power — are still being used to justify and perpetuate harmful narratives, particularly concerning those cast to the margins.

Born and raised in Southern California to a very Portuguese family, the Catholic faith has been ingrained into my identity from a young age. The idea for this project gradually unfolded as I focused my attention on the role of Catholic guilt in my life. After scanning a couple used book stores, I found a bible full of bookmarked pages and scribbles in the margins, all highlighting passages that reaffirmed harmful power dynamics and the condemnation of the “other.” This is what I wanted to visually showcase with my installation, a big metaphor for the ways we pick apart texts looking for evidence of truth. A month before the completion of this project, my great grandmother passed away. In the process of clearing out her home, my family just so happened to find a kneeling pew that she had kept in storage for years. As if she knew exactly what I needed in that moment! The timing of it all is so wild and so beautiful. I invite you to interact with my installation in whatever way feels right to you and take some time to consider for yourself what is truly “right and just.”