Michael Halak was born in 1975 in Kfar Fasuta, in the Upper Galilee, to a Catholic family. He graduated with a BA in Art and is a certified art teacher. He received his Master of Art degree with honors from the University of Haifa. Halak paints figurative, realistic paintings from observation. He constructs unique compositions of items which to him represent images and ideas, and uses photographs to paint portraits.

He acknowledges that his paintings, including the portraits, represent a symbolic and metaphorical narrative. His multiple self-portraits are associated with identity politics and self-representation, including the possibility of relying on unmarked faces and assimilating into the crowd without being arrested, checked and exposed. His paintings grapple with the connection between tradition and current time and place, for which he is recognized as unique.