I was Born in San Juan Puerto Rico, where I grew in a surreal environment where events took magical qualities and informed my day to day life. 

I came to the United States to attend art school in Boston. After receiving a BFA from Tufts University I became involved with a group of artists creating site-specific installations called The Revolving Museum. 

My first commissioned work was “The Puerto Rican Tea House” created for the Cambridge River Festival. The piece was born of the realization that there were direct parallels between traditional Japanese tea ceremonies and informal Puerto Rican gathering spaces called Bohios. This project received great reviews and in 1991 I received a fellowship in Sculpture from the Massachusetts Artist Foundation.

In 1992 The National Endowment for The Arts (NEA) granted me a fellowship to develop a Sculptural and Performance piece- “Dulcinea and Her Imaginary Lover”- Inspired by Cervantes book Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Moving to New York in 1993, I continued the exploration into site-specific work. Several other fellowships followed including the Mid Atlantic Regional Fellowship for Sculpture and inclusion in the Marie Walsh Foundation Studio Program. 

In 2003 I moved to Venice, California, where drawings became a better form of expression for the whimsical and fluid lines that collaging materials allowed. The layering of paradoxical images to my organic imagery has allowed me to tell stories and commentary of what we presently live.

2021 has brought me to Nashville TN. Here my work has been influenced by the lake and nature that exists outside my studio. There is a greater amount of contemplation and dreams that are manifesting through my visual work. The result is a combination of sculpture, drawings and installations that are being born from a mythology I call “The Republic of Wonder.”

To meet with Marlen, or any of our excellent mentors, please fill out this interest form.