Biography:
I was born in Santa Cruz on April 4, 1980. I was raised in a household where art was highly encouraged. I learned to fly fish at an early age and spent multiple years as a board member for the Santa Cruz Dry Fly Fisherman's Club. I attended CSSSA, a summer art school held at CalArts, in 1996. I majored in sculpture at CSSSA and returned in 1998 to study film. During this time I also ran Cross-Country, participated in Track and Field, made multiple films, and worked for an Academy Award winning production-company. Also, in high school, I was heavily involved in an AIDS awareness organization called Q&A, which lasted until I left for college.
I left high school for Humboldt State University where I majored in ichthyology: the study of fish. During my stay in Arcata I began fencing and within a year I was teaching classes at the college and running the club. At this time I became heavily involved in the martial arts, and began running The Multi-Style-Sparring Club. In the club I worked with practitioners of many different martial arts. Two years into my college education I changed my major and moved back down to Santa Cruz to focus on film. Within the area of film I centered my studies around Chinese Main-Land, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong Cinema's.
At UCSC I wrote for EyeCandy, an on campus film publication, and I continued fencing, and martial arts. After I graduated college I moved to Seattle Washington to take a job running a homeless youth and young adult program for 13-25 years olds. This job in many ways defined me both professionally and personally. After two years in the program I left to travel around the world.
With no distinct plans I eventually found myself cycling across a portion of China, and all of Pakistan. On the Indian Pakistan border I bought a motorcycle, taught myself how to ride it, and traveled to the southern tip of the country. I finished my trip in Thailand after almost 8 months of overland travel. When I returned to the states, I took a job working as a summer camp councilor in Seattle for the summer. When I returned to the Bay Area, I worked at a Hospice organization, and soon after that I took a job with a homeless youth art program. Most recently, I have been working heavily with an internet startup that is attempting to help artists.
