"I was born in Auckland in 1981 and was
raised up in Tonga. Art was one of my
favourite hobbies in primary. I spent some
of my high school years in Fiji which exposed
me to some of the Western art traditions.
At this point I had developed an interest
in the art and practice of tattooing.
A pivotal point in my life took place
when
my brother and I were sent to Malaysia in
2001 for further study in Electrical
Engineering. It was here in Malaysia that I started getting
into the practice of tattooing.
I started out as a self-taught tattoo artist
and made a home made machine from sewing needles and a small
motor. I experimented
on myself before tattooing others. Tattooing became something
that I loved so much and
I decided to try and make a career out of it.
This led to working with a Phillipino tattooist
by the name of Spec, whose knowledge in sterilisation and
hygiene were beneficial to
my development as a tattoo artist and
practitioner. I was tattooing mainly Western designs in
Malaysia because there was not
a lot of interest in Polynesian designs.
However, when I moved to America, I
continued tattooing and found that
Polynesian designs were more in demand.
Eventually I settled back in Auckland and
during 2004 worked with Inia Taylor at
Moko Ink.
My love of tattooing spurred an interest in developing
my knowledge in the art and I
begun research into tattoo through magazines, books and
the Internet. My goals are to build
on my knowledge base by attending tattoo
conventions as well as being active in
reviving the art and practice of tatatau in
Tonga.
