Miguel Angel Payano Jr. is an Afro-Caribbean American artist working between Beijing and New York. With a visual vernacular that is informed by American, Caribbean and Chinese cultures, he creates works that oscillate between painting and sculpture which investigate class, identity formation and socialization. His transcultural surrealist sensibilities bind humor and aesthetics with accents of the grotesque and disturbing.

Until 2016 when he returned to NYC to attend Hunter's MFA program, Payano had been primarily based in China where he has lived for nearly two decades.  In addition to exhibiting throughout China, Payano has also exhibited in Europe, Southeast Asia and the US. His works are in major collections in China and Italy.