Marlena Zuber was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1974. In 1977 she graduated from the Illustration Program at the Ontario College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work in several local galleries and shows. Recently, she worked as an assistant for a costume and set designer, an experience she greatly enjoyed. She has spent the last two years since completing her studies building her portfolio and launching her career.

Represented by Three in a Box, her work has appeared in The National Post, The Globe and Mail, Golf Canada, Elm Street, Selling Power, Homestyle and Gardening, American Baby, and American Way

Marlena works primarily with acrylics, but also likes to use Dr. Martin dyes, gouche, pencil, collage, and acrylic paints. She finds inspiration in the work of Bernard Shahn, Frida Kahlo, Edward Gorey, Henrik Drescher, Derek Jarman, Peter Greenaway, Rebecca Horn, as well as children's and her own doodles.

Merlena has received several awards and most recently was a featured winner in Applied Arts' 1998 Illustration Contest.