Gena Marvin

Early life and education Gena Marvin was born in Magadan, Russia. She grew up practicing drag makeup in secret in her parents' house. She said she was bullied and tormented growing up in her small village. This, alongside the tale of Slender Man, would become a major inspiration for her artwork. One of her performances involved wrapping her body in tape, expressing her belief that Russia had "no freedom and where the freedom of my body was not permitted".

Marvin is the subject of Queendom, a documentary directed by Agniia Galdanova and produced by David France and Igor Myakotin. It follows Marvin from 2019 until February 2023, and shows Marvin performing her art while facing the risk of imprisonment or death in Russia where LGBTQ people face legal and extralegal risk. The film premiered in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 1 December 2023.

Personal life Marvin lived in St. Petersburg beginning in around 2019. After an April 2021 performance at a protest supporting Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, she said she moved to Moscow "to push even harder". In 2022, Marvin became a refugee from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and moved to Paris.

Marvin is non-binary and queer.