Art by Tai, Hannibal, MO
I am an American/Samoan artist creating works with inspiration fueled by music and the nostalgic memories of my turbulent teenage years. I've utilized decades of self-taught techniques, cultivated from urban doctrines, in an effort to create art that evokes an honest & hopefully profound emotional experience. My creative process spawns from an organic and authentic subconscious journey and my creations manifest more by virtue of my own self-evaluation and less of propagating my ideology.
In the early 80's, growing up bi-racial in a predominantly white suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, primed me to self-identify as an undesirable. Tormented with cultural identity angst at such a young age, I was fortunate to discover that the arts were a perfect way to express my frustrations. Through my artistic explorations I realized my auto-didactic ability, which evolved into experimentation with nearly every type of art-form, including graffiti and tattoo work, but no medium has captured and retained my affections as strongly as drawing with a ballpoint pen, so that has been my central focus for most of my artistic career.
My persistent drive to provide thought-provoking content has helped to develop a dedicated following of over half-a-million members on Facebook and Instagram and played a critical role in my international success, helping to sell thousands of my original artworks worldwide. For over a decade I have toured the globe with my wife and two children, demonstrating the versatility of ballpoint pen through the trafficking of my artwork at galleries, museums and art fairs. In January 2021 I finished a nearly 7 year complete rehab project, turning an 1851 pre-civil war home into my own studio/gallery in America's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri.
