Michael Emani was born in Tehran, Iran in 1971. The political unrest of that era made for a difficult childhood. Michael and his sixteen year old brother were the last of his family to escape Iran. He survived an arduous journey on horseback, then by boat arriving in Italy where he awaited safe passage to the United States in 1980. He and his brother reconnected with his family in Atlanta, Georgia.

His creativity had begun around the age of 10 and continued to flourish upon his arrival in the states. His artistic focus in the early years was with woodworking. This fascination with creating surfaces and texture evolved, especially with the use of unconventional mediums to create forms. Michael was very reserved as a child and spent most of his time creating projects in the family’s basement. He was known from the time he was a child to be prolific in his creativity, always planning the next thing he wanted to create.