I am currently a PhD student in both the English and Theater and Performance Studies departments. I build and play around with puppets as well as think about their literary and visual representation in theater, literature, television, and film.
My dissertation project takes account of both the mechanical and metaphorical modes that typically circumscribe the puppet as either a theatrical object or a metaphor of control. I am interested in the ways that the puppet, as a structured relation that moves between the material object, its aesthetic image, and its conceptual significance, allows us to see the point of interaction between the abstract workings of subjective experience and the mechanics (bodily, environmental or social) of its operations.
Marissa and her work were recently featured in the magazine of the Division of the Humanities, TABLEAU. She has also been profiled by the Arts, Science & Culture Initiative, with which she was a fellow during the 2019-20 academic year.