News + Archive

(In)/Animate Objects [Burial + Rebirth] at the Pacific Design Center, March 14-30 2025

Posted on by hausofmarsian in (In)/Animate Objects, Los Angeles, Marsian De Lellis, Miniatures, Object of Her Affection, Object Sexuality, Object Sexuals, Object/Fetish, Pacific Design Center, Tim Lagasse, WEHO Arts and Culture
(In)/Animate Objects [Burial + Rebirth], 2025

My installation, (In)/Animate Objects [Burial + Rebirth], will debut at the Pacific Design Center as part of Queering Digital, curated by Steve Galindo and Jamison Edgar. The opening reception will take place on March 14, 2025, from 6–9 PM, with the exhibition running from March 14 to March 30.

While I have exhibited these dolls before, this format foregrounds the process of decay—an unraveling I’ve previously witnessed only in the privacy of my studio. By bringing this breakdown into public view, the work invites audiences to engage with cycles of deterioration and renewal as they unfold in real time. A time-lapse video, captured over the 17-day exhibition, adds another layer, offering an accelerated glimpse into the subtle, continuous shifts that occur as the dolls decompose and change.

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Live Art Denmark – existential experiences that shake the bag

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Arken Museum, Body Modification, Copenhagen, Dolls, Gallery, Installation, Live Arts Denmark, Live Feed, Marsian De Lellis, Performance, Performance Art, performing objects, Plastic Surgery, Raggedy Ann to Real Doll, Tim Lagasse

The 11th edition of Live Art for Children is coming to an end at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art under the theme Staged Identities in the Age of Social Media . Last weekend, international artists presented cosmetic surgery on a beloved American children’s doll and sent us into a frenzy with a harrowing TikTok livestream.

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Real Doll, Arken Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Body Modification, Copenhagen, Dolls, LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), Live Arts Denmark, Marsian De Lellis, Performance Art, Plastic Surgery, Raggedy Ann to Real Doll, Tim Lagasse
photo: Annie Martins

Saturday, November 23 and Sunday, November 24, 2024, I will perform Raggedy Ann to Real Doll with Tim Lagasse at the Arken Museum of Contemporary Art. Real Doll is an immersive body horror experience in which one of America’s most beloved dolls will go under the knife. Witness-participants can step into the role of nurse, observing or aiding in the operating room as they wish.

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FRIISLAND LIVE!

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Live Arts Denmark, Marsian De Lellis, Tim Lagasse
Raggedy Ann to Real Doll at LACE 2016
photo: Annie Martins

If you happen to be in Copenhagen on November 21, from 5pm to 8pm, please join me for FRIISLAND LIVE: Rosie Gibbens (UK), Jonas Kjeldgaard Sørensen (DK) and Marsian De Lellis (US), which offers vernissage, performances and a nice hot soup.

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Elemental Animism: A Ritualistic Opera (De)/Constructs the World (ESSAY)

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Basil Twist, Chicago, Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Huang Ruo, LA, Los Angeles, Marsian De Lellis, Written

The Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival published one of my essays on Book of Mountains and Seas, an opera composed by Huang Ruo with puppetry by Basil Twist. Read Elemental Animisim: (De)/Constructing the World in the festival archives.

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Memories of my father

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Marsian De Lellis

When someone passes, you only hear about their positive qualities as the things that defined them. But Dad would have felt like it was an incomplete picture without mentioning his dislikes and quirks. Those were the things that made him who he was too. He hated Disneyland for instance, and had a phobia of shopping malls. But the things he loved made him laugh – until he cried. And he had a specific sense of humor. When I ran over a snowbank, while driving his ashes home, I could have sworn I felt his eyes roll at me.

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Model Killer at LAX Festival

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Automata, Dollhouses, Eli Presser, Figurines, Hunter Wells, LA, Los Angeles, Marsian De Lellis, Michele Spears, Miniatures, Model Killer, Munchausen by proxy, Performance, Performance Art, performing objects, Puppetry, Puppets, Serial Killers, The Jim Henson Foundation, Theater, Tim Lagasse, Violence
photo: Richard Termine

Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22, I will be presenting episode one from Model Killer: Giant Crimes + Tiny Cover-Ups at Automata in Los Angeles as part of the Live Arts Exchange [LAX] Festival. A disgruntled dollhouse maker turned investigator transforms herself into a blood thirsty serial killer in this noir walk-through puppetry experience that uses fragments of dollhouses as staging areas. Space is limited to 12 participants at a time. Get tickets.

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Ucross Foundation Residency

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Marsian De Lellis
video: Carl Largeant

From August 21 – September 1, 2023 I was a artist in residence and fellow at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming (population 26). While in residence, I met artists from around the country, swam in a river with a rescue dog, rode a bike in a windstorm, took in the clouds, and ate exquisite food. As I recalibrated my senses, I opened myself up to the vibrations of the landscape. Wildlife encounters included deer, sheep, chickens, wild turkeys, insects, and avoiding rattlesnakes.

In the studio, I developed designs for Model Killer: Giant Crimes + Tiny Cover-Ups in advance of viewings on October 21 and 22 at Automata in Los Angeles as part of the Live Arts Exchange [LAX] Festival curated by Los Angeles Performance Practice . Here’s a sneak peak of some of the dollhouse wallpapers.

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(In)/Animate Objects, Wall Dolls A1-I18, El Camino College Art Gallery (Torrance)

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Marsian De Lellis

February 13 – March 9, 2023, at El Camino College Art Gallery I’m showing Wall Dolls A1-I18 from the (In)/Animate Objects collection as part of the exhibition, Telling Stories. (In)Animate Objects is a body of work consisting of thousands of decaying rag dolls that explore frailty, impermanence, and the insatiable need for love at the heart of the obsessional life.  At the gallery, I will be showing 162 dolls from the collection alongside a video that explains their origins. 

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When Teachers Are Heroes

Posted on by hausofmarsian in Art, Artist-Educator, Boston, LGBT, Marsian De Lellis, Photographs

Yesterday I woke up to news that my high school art teacher had died. He was loving, kind, generous, and sassy. He introduced me to artists and movements. He helped me get through a transitional period and into art school. He helped a lot of people survive and become who they are today. He made life more worth living.

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