About
About
IsaLu Ishii is the artistic moniker of Armenian-Bulgarian Luisa Doncheva, a self-taught artist based in London.
The name began years ago as a personal online alias, combining a playful rearrangement of Luisa’s name (LuIsa → IsaLu) with a nod to O-Ren Ishii, the unapologetically badass character from Kill Bill. What started as a little innocent disguise eventually became her artistic identity.
After studying Italian Language and Literature at the University of Sofia, Luisa spent five years in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy, before moving to London, where she eventually found her way back to art. Her return began with layered papercut portraits, giving rise to her Blue Boys series and the first appearance of those now-familiar scarlet lips.
Driven by a love of aesthetics, colour and the wonderfully unexpected, her work explores expressive bodies, movement and characters with a little extra flair. Having trained in classical ballet between the ages of five and fourteen, and performed in productions at the Varna Opera in Bulgaria, she has long been drawn to the drama of the stage. Theatre, ballet and Greek and Roman mythology continue to fuel her imagination, finding their way into a playful, ever-evolving practice.
IsaLu creates intuitively, following whatever catches her eye or amuses her, with a touch of whimsy, always. She imagines her characters as strong yet tender, fierce and full of flair, as though they’re having the time of their lives! If her work sparks curiosity, brings a smile or simply brightens someone’s day, then it has done its job.
No hidden messages to decipher. What you see is what you see!
Exhibitions
29 May 2026 - BLOOMRUIN - A 4 Women Group exhibition - Mortal Machine Gallery, New Orleans, USADecember 2025 – Scope Miami, with Mortal Machine Gallery, USA
June 2025 – Threesome: A Pride Month Show, Adorn The Common, London
June 2025 – Artwork featured on the set of the BBC series What It Feels Like for a Girl, based on Paris Lees’ bestselling memoir
January 2025 – À Trois, Mortal Machine Gallery, New Orleans, USA (group show)
January 2025 – In Fleeting Moments, Secession Gallery at Introduced, St Leonards-on-Sea (group show)
July 2024 – Adorn The Common Summer Art Fair, London
June 2024 – Lobby Mirror art installation for London Pride, The One Hundred Shoreditch Hotel, London
December 2023 – Scope Miami, with Mortal Machine Gallery, USA
October 2023 – SOTA: First Own Exhibition, The Lab E20, London (group show)
September 2023 – Keep the Fire Burning, Mortal Machine Gallery, New Orleans, USA (group show)
Press
2026 – The Stylist "The Sunday Times" – featured in To Love and Cherish
2025 – Attitude Magazine – feature on the group exhibition Threesome: A Celebration of Queer Art & Desire at Adorn The Common, London
2025 – BBC series What It Feels Like for a Girl – artwork featured on set