Dove Jo (L) and HJ Kim kiss beneath a 26-foot statue inspired by the iconic kiss between a nurse and a sailor in Times Square August 12, 2010 in New York City. Alfred Eisenstaedt took the famous photograph on V-J Day marking the end of World War II. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Hot air balloons rise over Innes Common Park during a dawn lift on March 29, 2012 in Hamilton, New Zealand. Each Autumn over 30 hot air balloons grace the sky as part of the Balloons Over Waikato Festival. (Photo by Sandra Mu/Getty Images)

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 hot air balloon in the likeness of Yoda from Star Wars prepares for liftoff at the 21st Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival at the former Clark US Air Force base in Pampanga Province, Philippines on February 9, 2017. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A man pours water on his camel on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India, May 18, 2017. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A mahout bathes his elephant in the river Sabarmati on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India May 21, 2017. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

People enjoying the hot weather on Brighton beach in Sussex, England on August 7, 2020. (Photo by Stephen Lock/i-Images)

People play on a beach along the Arabian Sea on a hot summer day in Mumbai, India, April 29, 2016. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)