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 reveller gets ready to dance during a "pow-wow" celebrating the Indigenous Peoples Day Festival in Randalls Island, New York, October 11, 2015. The festival is held as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day and is to promote Native American culture and history. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

The singer Jennifer Lopez during her concert at the Movistar Arena, on July 13, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. The international artist, a native of New York, performs in Madrid as part of her tour “Up all night Live in 2025”. Jennifer Lopez has sold more than 80 million albums to date, accumulated more than fifteen billion plays and has nearly 28 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. Among the awards she has won throughout her career are the American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, or the Latin Grammy Awards. (Photo by Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via The Mega Agency)

In this Thursday, December 1, 2016 photo, Cat Bigney, part of the Oglala Native American tribe, waits on the shore of the Cannonball river for travelers to arrive by canoe at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. So far, those at the camp have shrugged off the heavy snow, icy winds and frigid temperatures. But if they defy next week's government deadline to abandon the camp, demonstrators know the real deep freeze lies ahead. Life-threatening wind chills and towering snow drifts could mean the greatest challenge is simple survival. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)

An actor holds a fake baby while waiting for the Wintershall Nativity play dress rehearsal to begin at Wintersall Estate on December 12, 2021 in Guildford, England. The Nativity play, which tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, has been performed annually since 1990 over the Christmas period by the Wintershall players. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images)

A Nativity scene is seen at the window of a house in the medieval mountain village of Luceram as part of Christmas holiday season, France, December 15, 2016. Luceram presents more than 450 creches (Nativity scenes) from the tiny to the huge yearly in December as part of the Circuit des Creches. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Waxwings in Balham south London on December 31, 2023. There has been a huge influx of this erruptive species this year. This probably due to severe storms and a shortage of food in their native Scandinavia in the Autumn. (Photo by Jack Hill/The Times)

The legs of camel and sheep for the “Living Nativity” scene, and Rockettes, of the “Radio City Christmas Special”, are juxtaposed as they pose for photos outside New York's Radio City Music Hall, Tuesday, October 28, 2014. The show is scheduled to open Friday, November 7, 2014 and continue through Wednesday, December 31, 2014. The “Living Nativity” has been part of the Christmas Spectacular since its inception in 1933. (Photo by Richard Drew/AP Photo)