Melissa Cooke is a young, up-and-coming player on the international art scene. Born and raised in the Midwest and a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Art Department, Melissa works 40 hours a week while balancing a vital art career. After getting home from work, Cooke burns the midnight oil working in her bedroom studio on her large scale drawings. Her powdered graphite on paper works explore themes of beauty, fantasy, violence, and identity, with the artist casting herself as subject in a myriad of thematic scenarios. Her drawings are attracting attention from major art galleries, museums and collectors in Chicago, LA and NYC.