Marina Orlova

Marina Orlova (b. Arzamas, USSR) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the tensions between the body, power, sexuality, and cultural inheritance. Rooted in her Soviet upbringing and shaped by religious iconography, political history, and contemporary consumer culture, her practice examines the ways identity and femininity are constructed, controlled, and transformed.

Working across large-scale mixed media, painting, drawing, and performance, Orlova brings together sacred imagery, political symbolism, and popular culture. Her work challenges established narratives of authority, devotion, and desire, often blurring the boundaries between the sacred and the profane.

Before establishing her visual art practice, Orlova created HotForWords, a pioneering YouTube educational series that brought the origins of English words to millions of viewers. Her unconventional approach to education attracted international media attention, including coverage in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, Wired, Der Spiegel, and the Moscow Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

In 2009, she published her book HotForWords with HarperCollins.

In 2023, her painting Birthing a Bomb was awarded First Prize at the London Art Biennale.

Orlova lives and works in California.