Michael was born in 1963 in Matangi village on the island of Futuna in Southern Vanuatu. He enjoyed art from an early age and achieved initial recognition at Malapoa college where he studies art and contributed illustrations to a number of school texts. After a brief respite from art while he studied towards a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of the South Pacific, Michael joined the Nawita association after graduating in 1989 and has exhibited in all of the association's annual exhibitions since. Michael does his artwork in his spare time away from his job as Senior Research Officer at the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu. His art is inspired by the natural and cultural environments and in particular from childhood memories of these environments on Futuna.