Model Killer: Giant Crimes + Tiny Cover-Ups

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. This 30-minute work-in-progress presentation invited small groups to travel throughout an immersive environment guided by the artist, where they could reconsider women who kill, the historically feminine craft of miniatures, and the sensationalism of crime. By activating the familiar domestic architecture of dollhouses, De Lellis deactivated romantic notions of innocence.

Model Killer was made possible in part through funding from the Jim Henson Foundation and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant with development support from The Ucross Foundation, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Automata, Los Angeles Performance Practice, and Santa Monica Cultural Affairs.

Collaborators

About Marsian De Lellis

Marsian De Lellis (They/Them) is an interdisciplinary artist and activist who constructs installations and time-based visual narratives in intimate settings. In their practice, they employ puppets, dolls, performing objects, models, miniatures, and humor to memorialize obsessional lives. De Lellis celebrates stories of unconventional people. Melding real or imagined biographies with fragments from their own lived experiences has evolved into a survival strategy that transforms personal struggle into comprehensible form. They are developing a nonbinary aesthetic that embraces multiplicity and playfully critiques societal norms in conversation with queer, godless, neurodivergent, and trans/enby viewers. De Lellis holds an MFA from CalArts and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Their work has been supported by The Jim Henson Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Center for Cultural Innovation, Santa Monica Cultural Affairs, and the Ucross Foundation. Recently, the New York City Department of Education included archives from their queer advocacy work in its social studies curriculum. De Lellis lives in Los Angeles and serves on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council.