Marleigh Belsley is interested in the impact of technology on how we understand ourselves, each other, and our environment.
Her work explores what - on a microscopic level - happens through the process of sound and image capture, and how video can begin to reveal the complex, intertwined systems of the climate crisis and digital technology.
Working across digital and analogue forms of video, photography, and sound, Marleigh investigates each medium's distinct temporal and material presence. To make palpable the distance between the physical and its representation, Marleigh elongates lens-based processes to the point where the medium begins to reveal itself.
For example, Marleigh hand processes 16mm film using developer she makes out of non-toxic, sustainable materials. She works in direct animation - hand painting 16mm film frame by frame. In the digital realm, she experiments with a wide range of recording devices — from high quality to lo-fi, working across the various material “timestamps” each camera provides. Sonically, Marleigh works in methods from manipulating analogue tape to live electronics.
Marleigh considers how video offers the opportunity to listen deeply and look again while critically reflecting on our everyday consumption of digital media.
Marleigh Belsley (b. Chicago, IL 2001) is an artist based between New York, NY and London, UK. She holds an MA in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art (2025). She earned her BA in Studio Art and Music at Harvard (Summa Cum Laude, 2024) and studied Music Technology at Berklee College of Music (2024). Belsley has photographed for organizations such as the New York Times and the Harvard Film Archive. She has exhibited at Fridman Gallery, Art Jakarta, London Design Festival, Cubitt Gallery, Filet Space, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts and Maven Art House. She has been awarded The John Knowles Paine fellowship from the Harvard Music Department and the Sydney M Williams Jr. Traveling Fellowship from the Harvard Visual Arts Department.
instagram: marleigh.belsley
email: mobelsley@gmail.com