Alan Wolfson is a New York artist with a unique passion for miniature urban sculptures. Born in 1948 and raised in Brooklyn he learned to appreciate his urban surroundings from an early age and begun making miniatures in shoeboxes.

Shortly after his military service ended, his hobby became his livelihood as Alan explains: “I understand that my work is unusual and in some ways indefinable; people don’t know which box to put it in.”

His latest work is entitled ‘Canal St. Cross Section’ and is built as a core sample, cross-section of the landmark street corner and underpass, as if you just dug it up. The cross-section is a combination of the street scene on top with shops and subway entrance and two subterranean levels of the subway underpass and subway carriage.

The beauty is in the incredible detailing – even the subway’s graffiti laden interior and street litter. The actual scene is made up of a combination of existing and fabricated environments, all built on the artist’s experiences and imagination.

The piece, which took eighteen months to complete, is on show from June 7th – September 18th, 2011 at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC.

Read the original blog post here on We Heart.