This original fine art stone sculpture of a female nude torso was a commission for sculptor Michael Binkley. One of Michael’s patrons, Dr. Graham had seen a similar sculpture that Binkley had carved earlier, but it had sold during an exhibition, so Dr. Graham asked to have another created. As Binkley does not reproduce his pieces, he agreed to carve another torso, but cautioned the patron that it would not be exactly the same as the first.
Since the previous nude was carved from nootka marble, Binkley chose another piece of this same marble for the sculpture. This variety of stone was quarried decades ago at Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Nootka marble is characterized by a light grey background colour with striations of black and white. For “Goddess II”, Binkley created a nude female torso with generous hips and buttocks that appears to be leaning and stretching in the direction of her right shoulder. The sculptor managed to arrange the composition so that the wonderful black and white colour pattern in the marble appears to look like lingerie that has slipped off the nude’s shoulders, but still clings to her right breast, hips and thighs.
Binkley gave the surface of the sculpture a silky smooth matte finish that is wonderful to touch and gives the marble the ability to successfully hold shadow. He mounted the torso on a square black granite base with a high gloss polish for contrast of texture and colour.