'Abandoned Bath In Landscape', AKA 'Ophelia', 2015

A very strange object to find in an edgeland landscape. A bath has been discarded in a dried out reeds, bush and brush strewn landscape. A metal fence can be seen in the background. A misty haze obscures the vaguely formed trees in the distance.

I must confess I can’t avoid the strange resonances with the story of Hamlet’s, Ophelia demise, but also the strong real-life resonances of Sir John Everett Millais’, ‘Ophelia’, 1851-52.. The model for Millais’ painting, Elizabeth Siddal, (at the point of painting was 18 years old) also an artist and poet, during sketching for the painting she was posed inside of a cold water filled bath in order to get the floating effects Millais wanted.

From Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Siddal
”..For John Everett Millais's Ophelia, Siddal floated in a bathtub full of water to portray the drowning Ophelia. Millais painted daily through the winter, putting oil lamps under the tub to warm the water. On one occasion, the lamps went out and the water became icy cold. Millais, absorbed by his painting, did not notice and Siddal did not complain. After this, she became ill with a severe cold or pneumonia. Her father held Millais responsible and, under the threat of legal action, Millais paid her doctor's bills”