Late in life, informed by the Japanese crafts of kirigami and origami (Japanese cut and folded paper) and industrial manufacture, Isamu Noguchi produced a series of twenty-six galvanised steel sculpture editions by cutting, folding and assembling sheet metal. As the artist stated: ‘The folding creates structural strength. It also introduces three-dimensionality to appear solid – or may be so without looking so, as I often prefer. A shadow.’ The sculptures in the series represent a virtual retrospective of the artist’s wide-ranging interests – landscapes, bodies, abstract spatial concepts, and natural forces – offering a bridge between the natural and the manmade.

Goddess, still and self-possessed, is barely readable as a human form, though her curves echo Stone Age figurines such as the Venus of Willendorf. She is a cult idol in galvanized steel for the industrial age, symbolising endurance.