For Untitled (Yellow Bath), Rachel Whiteread built a frame around an inverted bathtub to cast the space surrounding the tub rather than its interior space. Her product gives a solid form to what was negative space—the space the tub displaced in its environment—separating the tub from its original function and placement. This dissociation causes a visual disorientation, compelling the viewer to sculpt a mental image of an object defined only by its abstracted impression.

Whiteread underscores the ritualistic implications of the tub’s form—alluding to baptism, purification, and objects associated with entombment, such as sarcophagi or coffins. The surfaces of the tub not only carry specific traces of meaning and memory, but they also trigger the personal associations of the viewer. Whiteread is one of many international artists re-interpreting the legacy of Minimalism, a simplified abstract style of the 1960s and 1970s, but the subjective aspect of her work separates her from the style’s origins. While Whiteread’s predecessors sought to explore pure form outside of any specific thematic references, she has consistently investigated the pure sculptural qualities of domestic objects, such as wardrobes, bathtubs, and chairs, and the spaces they inhabit.