Augustina Droze was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1981. She has a passion for learning about different cultures, which has propelled her to move around the world throughout her life to different states and countries as a painter and muralist. She received her BBA from the University of Cincinnati, her MFA from the University at Buffalo, and is currently working on her Doctorate of Creative Arts (DCA) at the University of Southern Queensland. In 2017, Droze worked painting murals in India and holding workshops in the Maldives as a Fulbright Senior Scholar. Her artwork draws from these diverse cultural influences through the elaborate arrangements she creates using animals and insects. She paints mandalas, kaleidoscopes, and baroque designs using imagery that many would find repulsive, such as rats, snakes, beetles, and pigs, as well as some more “beautiful” life forms such as butterflies and birds. These paintings take form as small watercolors, large oil paintings, and expansive murals. In addition to working as a professional artist and mural painter, Droze is also an art educator. She currently lives and works in Beijing, China, teaching at Tsinghua International School.