To challenge conventional expectations of ‘flat white,’ I decided to experiment with a flat white sheet. One of the notions that ‘flat white’ evokes is that of bed linen. A number of contemporary artists have focused on the intimacy of the bedroom as the subject of their work. Tracey Emin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Nan Goldin have all depicted the ‘slept in’ bed in a powerful and literal sense. For this experiment I wanted to portray something enigmatic and abstract.
Using my own bed linen, I created a series of photographs with the intention of defying preconceptions of a flat white sheet, turning it into a sculptural form with dimension and depth. This allowed me to experiment with light and shadow. After experimenting with taking photographs in my bedroom at home, I decided to move to a sterile and public space. By changing the direction and brightness of spotlights as well as the camera angle, I was able to create chiaroscuro. This effect was enhanced by the monochromatic palette and the flat white was optimised by the contrasting surroundings. During the set up process, I noticed the figure vaguely resembled a marble statue and I loved the fact that this light sheet conjured the illusion of weight. As a result, I changed the position of the model and again played around with the direction of the lighting to enhance this illusion. This discovery of ‘weightiness’ became appealing to me as it seemed to parallel the physical, emotional and psychological weight an individual takes to their bed each evening. I wondered whether other people would perceive these images in the same way, or would they perhaps think of ghosts and mummies?
Through experimentation, I decided to cover the figures faces to reflect the private nature of a bedroom. Here, the human form was present but at the same time concealed. I had initially left the faces of my figures exposed but decided to cover them to create a sense of anonymity. The unknown figures then retained a feeling of secrecy and mystery, open to speculation and interpretation. What were they thinking? What were they dreaming?
Moreover, I decided to play around with using one body, two bodies as well as an absence of bodies with the white sheet. The addition of a second figure lent itself to broader interpretation. Were my figures now resembling religious imagery – Madonna and child? Or could the intimacy of the figures be construed as sexual? Creating different tableaux for each shot, I contorted and distorted the figures’ bodies drawing on elements of surrealism. I tried pulling the sheet tight across the figures’ faces and limbs to exaggerate a dreamlike state. As I tightened the sheets and took close up photographs, the texture of the sheet became more apparent, again challenging the tactile conception of what a flat sheet might feel like.
Of the countless photographs taken, I selected 14 that best represented the breadth of my experimentation with light, shadow, the human form/absence of human form, body position and contorting, perceptions of weight and anonymity. Despite using a bed sheet as the source of my experimentation, I loved the idea that my photographs did not necessarily conjure images of a bed nor a ‘flat white.’