Marcelline Mandeng
Marcelline is a Cameroonian-born artist based in Philadelphia using their body as a primary medium and subject alongside video, sound, and sculpture to create ephemeral and surreal installation artworks.
Situated within the marriages of protest, autonomous props and the infinite ways we mine and preserve history in both analog and digital forms, their choreographed performances question the socio-political landscape that informs the experiences of a newly naturalized citizen. They explore how living in America as a black trans femme with indigeneity tied to the Motherland is an existence at the intersections of diasporic Blackness, gender non-conformity and difference.
Within every action is a demand for autonomy; documenting their journey to selfhood as a form of myth building by using their spiritual practice as a basis for healing and self care.
They received their BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2015 and have exhibited works at Macao Milano in Milan, Italy; Mercer Union in Toronto, Canada; Company Gallery in Manhattan, No Nations Art Gallery in Chicago, NADA at Art Basel Miami, and MoMA Ps1, among others. Recently, they were cast as a lead actress in a feature length independent film titled What Color is Blue? by Carman Spoto.
Click here to see other Leeway funded projects for Marcelline.
Awarded Grants
2019
Residencies
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Overview
Marcelline has been awarded the 2019 Headlong Performing Artist Residency for their proposed multidisciplinary installation titled FLOODGATE.
In her marvelous book The Spirit of Intimacy, author Sonbufu Some uses the term 'gatekeeper' to describe folks who live life at the edge between the material and spiritual worlds - the world of the village and the world of the spirit. In her indigenous village Dagara in Burkina Faso, people seek spiritual guidance from these gatekeepers who are openly known for their queer lifestyle. FLOODGATE is an inquiry into exhibitions of gender fluidity performed during rites of passages/rituals by our African indigenous ancestors. This archival research culminates into a monumental sculpture made out of blue lace fabric, an interactive library of herbs, and newly produced music.
FLOODGATE is an invitation for Black/brown/queer/trans folks to be more generous with their audience and the spiritual ideas they are willing to explore in their creative practices. It is also a moment of respite, a time to kiss the ground laid out by those who have walked on this plane before us and whose legacy we trail behind.