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.

An AH-64D Apache attack helicopter flies in front of a wall of fire during the South Carolina National Guard Air and Ground Expo at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, South Carolina, U.S. on May 6, 2017. (Photo by Jorge Intriago/Reuters/Courtesy Air National Guard)

An injured fan is helped by a riot policeman during clashes between Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade fans in the stadium before the teams' Serbian Superliga soccer match in Belgrade, April 25, 2015. Serbian league leaders Partizan Belgrade held champions and bitter city foes Red Star to a 0-0 draw in a derby match marred by bad crowd trouble before kickoff on Saturday. The start was delayed for 45 minutes after home Red Star supporters pelted riot police with seats and flares, forcing officers to retreat from the north tier that houses the club's diehard fans. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

French National Front party deputy Marion Marechal-Le Pen attends the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris April 14, 2015. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

An employee of the National Park Service takes a selfie with President Barack Obama, left, in the background meeting with the crowd after a tour of Everglades National Park on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, in Florida. Obama used the visit to warn of the damage that climate change is already inflicting on the nation's environmental treasures. (Photo by Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)

In this photo released by the Alaska National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard soldiers use a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to removed an abandoned bus, popularized by the book and movie “Into the Wild”, out of its location in the Alaska backcountry Thursday, June 18, 2020, as part of a training mission. Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige, in a release, said the bus will be kept in a secure location while her department weighs various options for what to do with it. (Photo by Sgt. Seth LaCount/Alaska National Guard via AP Photo)

Visitors at the National Zoo check out a parrotfish made from found waste from the ocean in Washington, DC on May 23, 2016. The artwork can be seen at the National Zoo until September 5th. (Photo by Keith Lane/The Washington Post)