Yana Payusova was born in Leningrad, USSR. She received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Payusova’s paintings and sculptures blend the styles and symbols of folk art, icons, graphic poster art, illustration, and comics, and reflect both her cultural heritage and her training in traditional Russian realist painting. She exhibits both nationally and internationally including recent venues at the Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis), Howard Yezerski Gallery (Boston), Tucson Museum of Art, Conduit Gallery (Dallas) and the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum (Taiwan). Payusova was an Artist-in-Residence at the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark, as well as a Visiting Artist at the Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass in 2021. Payusova is an assistant professor, assistant chair, and painting area coordinator in the department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Arlington.