Simon Draper was born in Abergavenny, Wales. He grew up in the UK and Germany and came to NYC in 1982 attending Cooper Union. He worked with Aero Press doing etching for artist's editions and spent many years in art services and NYC galleries. He worked with Simon Doonan at Barney's doing window displays; founded Anglie Crating, Inc. working with private collectors and interior designers. In 2007 he created Habitat for Artists, a collective project that uses the idea of the artist's studio as a catalyst for mutual engagement between artists and communities. He moved to Cold Spring, NY with his late wife, Marnie Hillsley, and son Aiden in 2017. Moved to California. Gardened during the Covid years. Returned to NY in 2022. Took a new studio in High Falls and opened Art Bites Gallery in 2023 with Janice La Motta.

Making something out of nothing, for the most part, has a negative connotation (a mountain out of a molehill).

When it comes to my choice of materials, I love the utility, the commonplace and disgarded. Material is abunadant. We have the luxury of throwing away all sorts of materials - one use and gone. This work is my making some things out of, for the most part, nothing.