Torika was born to an Australian mother of Anglo-Celtic origin and an Indigenous Fijian father. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Torika moved to Melbourne, Victoria to study Media Arts at Deakin University in 1997.

After completing Honours in Media Arts at Deakin University in 2000 she went on to complete a Masters of Multimedia Design at Monash University. Her photographic and video work has been exhibited locally an overseas, including New York, San Francisco and Auckland.

Torika has published and presented at local and international conferences about the representation of mixed-race identity and her forthcoming chapter ‘Daughters of the Diaspora: Migrant Women and Hip-Hop’ includes interviews with local Melbourne hip-hop performers.

Torika has had a varied career, from bass player to not-for-profit, multimedia design, and is currently a full-time university lecturer at Deakin University, Melbourne and a PhD candidate in the Centre for Contemporary Art and Politics at the College of Fine Arts (UNSW) . Her current research titled "Expendable Flesh: The Fijian Body and the Globalised Economy of War" investigates the representation of the black body in war, and focuses on Fijian security workers in Iraq.

Education
Doctor of Philosophy (current) - College of Fine Arts (University of New South Wales)
Master of Multimedia Design (2002 - 2004) - Monash University
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (2000) - Deakin University
Bachelor of Arts (1997 - 1999) - Deakin University

Employment
Associate Lecturer - current – SCCA, Deakin University
Multimedia Coordinator (2004 - 2006) - Deakin University Student Association (DUSA)
Casual Academic/Associate Lecturer (2003 - 2006 - SCCA, Deakin University
Communications & Marketing Officer (2002-2004) - DUSA
Executive Assistant to CEO (2001) - DUSA

Exhibitions
Kurunavanua: Black Bodies and War, Collingwood Gallery, Melbourne (2007)
The Real Fiji, Mangere Arts Centre, Auckland (2006)
Fresh 8, Revolver Upstairs (2005)
(In)secure, Cube 37, Frankston (2003)
Pacific Notion, Macy Gallery, New York (2002)
Motivation & Inspiration, McInery Building, Melbourne (2001)
Lanuola: Colors of Life, Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Oakland (2001)
Lanuola: Colors of Life, Somarts Gallery, San Francisco (2001)
Space - You Are Here, Span Gallery, Melbourne (2000)
Dimensions & Directions, Costa Hall, Geelong (2000)
Third Space, Half Space Gallery, Melbourne (2000)

Conference Papers
Bolatagici, T. Multiracial Identities: (Re)presenting the Third Space; Paper to Pacifika Ways of Knowing: Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, United States. February 2002.

Bolatagici, T. From the (n)either/(n)or of Third Space: (re)presenting hybrid identity and the embodiment of post-race; Paper to Motivation & Inspiration: Deakin University Postgraduate Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia, September 2001.

Publications
Bolatagici, T. ‘Claiming the (n)either/(n)or of ‘third space’ (re)presenting Hybrid Identity and the Embodiment of Mixed Race’ Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2004, pp. 75-85.