Bio

Isissia Drake is a painter located in Chicago, IL. Her work currently includes paintings in watercolor and acrylic as well as illustrations in ink, graphite, and charcoal. Contextually, her art focuses on reflecting the intimate internal world of the human psyche and  interpersonal relationships impact a community at large. 

 

Her interest in art was sparked at four years old, when she recieved an art kit as a birthday present. As an only child, she spent a lot time creating whatever she could from household items and absorbed step by step drawing instruction from elementary art teacher. Isissia was set on being an architect, but became less interested after taking drafting courses. After overcoming some personal obstacles, her focused shifted to the field of psychology. 

 

Isissia earned her B.A. in Psychology with an Art minor from Chicago State University in 2013.  Initially, she intended to just pursue counseling as her primary career. After taking art courses as an undegrad she realized it was a necessity to incorporate art into her life and explore being an artist professionally. Leading to graduation, she was still apprehensive about having to choose between psychology or art and decided to pursue both. Isissa intends to purse her Graduate degree in counseling art therapy.

 

She is influenced by the narrative qualities of Jacob Lawrence and expressiveness of Van Gogh. Though rooted in realism, Isissia's style is rather eclectic as it can change from a vibrant more abstract representation to a traditional realistic approach.