Background:

INSPIRATION:

Most of my inspiration came from my elder brothers, who were all sign writers, and I grew up working with them at our workshop in Madang. My other inspirations came from some of PNG's senior artists that I came across while growing up, especially during my childhood days.

Around 1996 or 1997, Larry Santana went to Madang where he set up a small gallery, and one day he paid a courtesy visit to our workshop. From that visit, he brought some of his artworks, which really caught my attention, and that instantly inspired me to get into painting. What intrigued me  from Larry's work was that his paintings reflected legends from his village (Yabob), and that made me decide to get into painting on canvas. I particularly admired the intricate use of design in his artwork.

Apart from that, I've also seen talented people, one of whom was a guy who creates designs on ceramics near the school where I attended. 

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

I left school in Grade 9, when I realized that I could make money using my artistic skills. At that time, I was already involved with my elder brothers in doing sign writing, mural painting, and other commercial paintings that generated money. I was also involved in other design-related work in school.

Since I mostly focus on doing commercial work other than fine art paintings, I have not participated in a lot of exhibitions until 2019 where I was involved in the 50th Anniversary of Contemporary Art exhibition which was organized by Lani. Few other exhibition were organized by Don Wotton in Brisbane, Australia in 2019, 2020, and 2021 where I submitted some of my works along with other PNG street artists to be exhibited there.

One of the best moment I valued most was when we received appreciation for our contribution to the Bush Fire Appeal in 2019 from the Australian High Commissioner to PNG. The Commissioner acknowledged me for my role in leading the initiative. The sales of this exhibition was given to the High Commission and sent to Australia.