A pro-democracy protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask holds a yellow umbrella and a banner in the part of Hong Kong's financial central district protesters are occupying November 2, 2014. The former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has witnessed a month of protests calling on the Beijing-backed government to keep its promise of introducing universal suffrage. The protests have for the most part been peaceful, with occasional clashes between the student-led protesters and Beijing supporters seeking to move them from the streets. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Honey bees and ground bumblebees fly with thick purple pollen pouches to the flower of a corn poppy, also called poppy or corn rose, to obtain nectar in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 7, 2022. Bumblebees, which like bees belong to the stinging bee family, form so-called summer colonies that exist for only a few months. (Photo by Wolfgang Kumm/dpa via AP Photo)

American sculptor Michael Alfano has been sculpting for over fifteen years. A native of New York, he now lives and works in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His major influences are Salvador Dali, Jo Davidson, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and other eastern philosophy and literature. He first studied at the Art Students League of New York, with an emphasis on life-size sculpture from the model. His formal education continued at Boston University and was augmented by internships with several prominent sculptors.

A Myanmar worker prepares corn for drying in a field during the harvest in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 23 August 2018. (Photo by Hein Htet/EPA/EFE)

A Palestinian man sells corn at Gaza Beach during sunset on August 8, 2021. (Photo by Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

These girls are scantily dressed as they head out for a night out in Portsmouth, Hampshire on September 21, 2016 in matching outfits. Thousands of Portsmouth University students enjoy freshers week. Teenagers enjoy their first taste of freedom in bars and clubs near Portsmouth Guildhall which on a midweek alcohol fuelled night of fun in the early hours of Wednesday morning much to the despair of local residents who get disturbed up to 4am when they eventually wander home. Girls dressed in “Dirty Disco” outfits with “Don't tell daddy” on their bums. (Photo by Paul Jacobs/PictureExclusive.com)

Brazilian farmer Jander Santos de Souza (R) checks his corn plantation which is inundated with floodwaters from the Solimoes River, in the rural municipality of Manacapuru, Amazonas state May 5, 2015. According to the association of farmers in the community, about 70 percent of the agricultural production was lost due to the flooding. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

A model displays a creation by designers members of the Carabobo Sostenible program who present a collection made of corn cob husks, plastic, and paper in front of the facade of the Virgen del Carmen church in the town of Mariara, Carabobo state, Venezuela, on August 3, 2023. (Photo by Juan Carlos Hernandez/AFP Photo)