Michael Binkley, a Squamish sculptor, strives to reconnect individuals to their primal instinct of touch. The sensory experience of touch is quickly de-programmed in most of us during childhood. ‘Don’t touch’ is a phrase often spoken to a child during formative years, and we learn that it is almost taboo to touch objects. This imposed societal constraint pushes our desire to touch to a deep place within us and sculpture is one means to resurface that instinct. Stone sculpture is the oldest art form known to Man and if Michael can entice a viewer to want to touch one of his sculptures, he feels he has succeeded in making a good art work.
When carving sculpture, Michael Binkley, tries to pay as much attention to the finishing of the piece as to the design – different textures are integral to the piece itself, as it supports his desire to have people touch the work as part of their interaction with a particular piece.
In our contemporary world of ‘conceptual art’ as popular art form, Michael Binkley, believes there is a missing piece that dismisses line and form, positive and negative space and composition of a discrete sculpture, which he feels is truly valuable in aiding an individual’s interaction with art through touch.
37950 Cleveland Avenue (in Pavilion Park)
2670 Stn Main, Squamish B.C. V8B 0B8
