Christine Marie is an interdisciplinary media artist creating large-scale, immersive installations, expanded cinema performances, and film. Her work bridges antiquated media forms with contemporary technologies, including AR, VR, and XR, to investigate how early image-making practices continue to shape our digital future. Her environments engage the intellect while fostering wonder, agency, and interactivity.
Marie is a pioneer in live 3D stereoscopic art. She uses custom-built "stereoscopes" to cast 40-foot anaglyph shadows in real time. She coined the terms 3D SHADOWS & Antiquated Augmented Reality to describe this analog phenomenon, in which 2D shadows become volumetric forms in cubic space without the use of a computer. Marie was a neighbor and friend of the late legendary stereoscopic 3D historian Ray Zone, and her work is supported by the stereoscopic education center, 3D SPACE in Los Angeles.
In her early twenties, Marie studied traditional wayang kulit shadow theater in Bali under dalang Pak Nartha and in the United States. She worked with ShadowLight Productions on numerous productions as an editor, assistant director, and artist, while also assisting mentor Larry Reed in traditional performances. This foundation grounds her work in cultural histories of shadow casting and mythological storytelling.
Her projects have been commissioned and presented by Sundance New Frontier, REDCAT, LACMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Exploratorium, the McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, Pop Up Magazine, Z Space, the New York International Fringe Festival, and Soho House. Her theatrical design work has appeared at the Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, and the Disney Hall. She has collaborated with and consulted for artists and organizations, including DreamWorks, Pixar, The Residents, Jordan Wolfson, and Pee Wee Herman, for projects spanning VR, robotics, and feature film.
Marie holds an MFA in Integrated Media and Theater from the California Institute of the Arts, and received the CalArts Alumni Council Grant. Her work has been supported by the MAP Fund, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Jim Henson Foundation, the Paul Dresher Ensemble Artists Residency, Intersection for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art, and is an upcoming artist in residence at Yaddo and Djerassi. Marie is a TED Fellow. In her primary TED Talk, Engaging the Unknown, she reflects on her artistic process and personal journey from being a video editor to a cinematic shadow artist.
As an educator, Marie has taught at the University at Buffalo, where she is currently an Assistant Professor of Media Study. She previously served as the Andrew Mellon Professor of Practice at Occidental College, where she created the course Visual Art and Story for Mixed Media. She has taught shadow animation at Pixar University and DreamWorks and has lectured at CalArts and Stanford University, in addition to leading workshops at institutions including the Skirball Cultural Center, Columbia Teachers College, and Crystal Bridges.
Her work explores industrialization, oppositional forces, and the male gaze, centering the role of the feminine in relation to technology, labor, and the natural world. While operating at the intersection of art, science, and performance, she investigates perception, phenomenology, and the metaphysical properties of light.
Based in San Francisco and working between California and New York, Marie is currently developing automated systems for her large-scale installation SHADOWS IN STEREO, scheduled to premiere in 2026, alongside a new series of photographic works and lightboxes inspired by the Zen Buddhist poetry by Dōgen Zenji.
