Michael Binkley is among the most successful self represented artists in Canada. He owns his own gallery and studio and sculpture garden which are adjacent to his home in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
A visit to Binkley’s gallery provides a rare opportunity not available with regular commercial gallery representation. The artist will personally host you and regale you with first hand experiences on the gestation and creation of each of his sculptures.
The Binkleys have created a comfortable and welcoming setting in which to view the constantly changing collection of sculpture. Consultation is available for specially commissioned pieces which can range in size from gallery to monumental works.
The gallery and sculpture garden are where the artist displays and sells the finished fine art sculptures. The gallery is a calm, inviting space with a high vaulted ceiling and large windows that let in natural light by day. At night, there is a unique lighting system that seems to float in the air that brings the sculptures to life. The gallery won a silver Georgie Award in 1998. Michelle Binkley is responsible for the design of the sculpture garden. It is a multi-level outdoor exhibition space, with winding paths and garden “rooms” for the display of exterior sculptures. Visitors are welcome to stroll and sit and contemplate the various sculptures on display.
The artist’s studio is where he creates his art and Binkley’s studio is a pragmatic, functional one. It is a far cry from the euphoric dream of an artist’s warm loft, replete with wine, a loaf of bread and nude models laying about.
Carving stone is hard, dirty work involving noisy tools in a dusty and muddy environment. Binkley uses electric angle grinders mounted with diamond saw blades and grinding wheels, pneumatic hammers and chisels as well as files and rifflers. Each sculpture must be an individual endeavour, the result of removing solid stone from and original block.
Binkley is a direct stone sculptor which means he carves directly into a block of stone, and is inspired by the stone’s shape and its colours. He does not make a preliminary model, or maquette in clay or other material and then copy it into stone. His vision for the finished sculpture is held only in his mind as he works directly on a piece of stone, removing what material he doesn’t want.
Throughout history, sculptors who have been credited having sculptures done in stone rarely ever touched the sculpture during its creation! Bernini, Canova, Rodin and countless others all have works in stone to their credit, but they never carved one of them. Stone carving has always been regarded as a lowly profession done only by craftsmen. Traditionally, the artist created the idea in clay, then had it cast into plaster. That plaster image was then sent to the stone carving studio, where artigiani would copy the plaster into stone.
Binkley, on the other hand, has personally carved every one of over 10,000 sculptures in his three decade career.