Draper was born in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1995 to his two parents, Laurie and Martriano. In his youth, he never took much of an interest in the arts, although draper did always admire the playful illustrations his father would draw. In 2017, he decided to continue his education by enrolling in business administration courses at Heartland Community College. During this first academic year, he found himself in an observational drawing course that overlapped with an off-campus experience fueled by LSD. Ever since, Draper has asserted that the act of creating is foundational to the flourishing of the individual, using his artistic practice to question and prod at internal and external states of being.

Draper discovered a lifelong love for the material of glass, studying under Professor John Miller at The Wonsook Kim College of Art and Design at Illinois State University. He would go on to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking & glass, and a Master of Fine Arts from the same institution in glass and mixed media sculpture.

In the spring of 2023, Draper held his first solo exhibition entitled Meditations on Fabrications, which was followed by his second solo exhibition in 2026 entitled Reconciliation. Both were well received. Draper has also had the distinguished honor of receiving several honors from Pilchuck Glass School, such as the SAXE TA/AA Award and the HIS Glassworks artist award. He has had his work featured in The Corning Museum of Glass’s New Glass Review 45, and has had his work exhibited nationally and internationally.

Currently, Draper continues to actively create new bodies of work in Southern Illinois, near St. Louis. He is currently the Assistant Studio Manager at Third Degree Glass Factory, where he works to educate the local artist population on traditional and contemporary glassmaking processes.