I have been practicing figurative sculpture since the early 2000s. My formal studies of the figure began with Viliami Toluta'u and Mataumu Alisa at Brigham Young University – Hawaii where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2002. I then received the best figurative training possible at the New York Academy of Art where I earned my Master of Fine Arts in 2004. There in the heart of the art world I received a direct lineage of techniques handed down from the great masters of old. While in Manhattan I studied the figure with a modern approach while sharing a personal dialogue with the most forward thinking renowned artists of our time. As a college art professor since 2006, currently at Indiana University at IUPUI and previously at the Art Institute of Indianapolis, I have been able to pursue my goal of learning and developing as I teach sculpture, the principles of design and creative thinking. Every day I love balancing my teaching and studio work with my family life.