Figurative Sculpture Artist: Michael Alfano

Michael Alfano works in Boston, but has events in many different states across the country. His sculptures are made from bronze, hydrostone, resin, or cold cast copper and bonded bronze.  I like the way that his pieces portray humans. The two pieces I have picture above are called Labyrinth and Unwound, and I like how they literally interpret people as both of those things, but they also allow you to think about how people are like that figureatively. His work is literal to the name of the piece, yet it still requires imagination. His pieces aren't tiny either. Some may be smaller than others, but they are bigger than the pictures make them appear to be. A few of his pieces are actually small though. Alfano's website can by found by clicking his name: Michael Alfano

Vessel Project: Cinderella Shoe

Some challenges that I overcame while making my Cinderella Shoe were making the shape of the shoe realistic and smooth. The shoe had to start off as multiple pieces, and when I first started putting them together they didn't look at all like a nice shoe. Also making the bow was difficult because originally I was going to make it out of Plexiglas. The Plexiglas did not want to break in the right shape though, so I changed the material that the bow was made out of. The heel was a successful part of the shoe, and it ended up turning out much better than I expected. Also the bow was successful once I decided to not use the Plexiglas. I really like the shattered pieces of glass on top of it, and the glaze on the shoe adds a nice touch to make it look fancier. In the future I would try to find something clear to make the bow out of. I do like how it turned out, but i think it could have been really neat if the base was clear instead of white. This piece is a vessel because a shoe holds a foot, and in the case of Cinderella's shoe it holds a story. This piece isn't exactly functional because I don't think a clay shoe would be very comfortable, and I don't know who's foot would fit into this shoe anyways because it is fairly small.