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Key facts about Rachel Whiteread

A cartoon version of Rachel Whiteread wearing blue overalls. Rachel has curly ginger hair.

Rachel Whiteread is a British artist who makes sculptures. She was born in Essex, England in 1963.

Her sculptures are of the spaces above, below, around and in between objects. They are sculptures of what is not there, rather than what is there.

She uses a method called to fill spaces with a material called plaster. When the plaster dries it becomes hard and is a sculpture of the space.

One of her most famous sculptures was a cast of a whole house.

She was the first woman to win the in 1993.

Her first sculptures were of things she found at home such as a hot water bottle and a mattress.

She often makes of the spaces around things before making casts of them.

A cartoon version of Rachel Whiteread wearing blue overalls. Rachel has curly ginger hair.
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Did you know?

Rachel Whiteread smiling at the camera, holding up her medal
Image caption,
Rachel Whiteread after receiving her royal DBE honours at Buckingham Palace in 2019
  • We call the space around and in between something the negative space.
  • Rachel Whiteread is inspired by the objects and spaces in her home and the area that she lives in.
  • She has even used snow to make casts before.
Rachel Whiteread smiling at the camera, holding up her medal
Image caption,
Rachel Whiteread after receiving her royal DBE honours at Buckingham Palace in 2019
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Activity

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Activity: drawing negative spaces

See if you can spot the negative spaces around the objects here.

You could use the objects and spaces around your home as inspiration, just like Rachel Whiteread. Have a look around your house and see how many negative spaces you notice.

Remember that you are looking at the spaces around and in between things, not the actual things.

Try making sketches of the negative spaces that you can see.

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Quiz

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Play Art Gallery Rescue. game

Help Lily and Will rescue the art gallery!

Play Art Gallery Rescue
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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