born:12/06/75 New Zealand I am a figurative painter that is interested in the study of light and form.
I am a Classical Painter of Maori descent. I come from the New Zealand North Island tribe, Ngati Tuwharetoa. On completion of my Visual arts degree in 1998 I went to Europe to copy and study works by the Masters.
My works deal with subjects of still life, landscape and portraiture to more grand narrative paintings about New Zealand history and mythology.
In 2006 I won the Martin Hughes Contemporary Pacific Art Award and left for Europe to paint and draw in Ateliers in Florence, Italy. The following year I received the Jouffrault scholarship from Studio Escalier to study with Timothy Stotz and Michelle Tully in Argenton, France. In 2008 I studied portraiture with Ted Seth Jacobs at B.A.C.A.A Belmont, California, U.S.A.