Tommy is a descendant of the Eastern Torres Strait Islands, Australian Aboriginal, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Islander and Asia. He speaks Torres Strait Creole and Australian English. He was taught about the need to keep culture strong through cultural practice by his father. He has a strong commitment to keeping old traditions alive and believes that culture must remain true to the past and move with time to exist in the future. Tommy has considerable experience in the arts and his art forms of choice include printmaking, painting and sculpture.

He has completed a Bachelor of Education and currently completing a BA in New Media at James Cook University, Cairns.  He was a semi-finalist in the Telstra Art Award in 2017 and was the winner of the Works on Paper section of the 2016 Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.   His works are in major public and private collections in Australia.  He is passionate in representing Indigenous arts and artists in general and the protection and true representation of Torres Strait Islander arts and culture.