The Last Thing I Said to You was Don't Leave Me Here II 2000

Curator: This is Tracey Emin's photograph, "The Last Thing I Said to You Was Don't Leave Me Here II," created in 2000. Editor: My first impression is one of stark vulnerability. The rough wood of the corner presses in around the figure, creating a really palpable sense of confinement. Curator: Absolutely. The rawness of the wood acts as a counterpoint to the smoothness of the skin. Wood as a historically and culturally resonant material appears repeatedly across visual art—associated with notions of craft, labor, nature, home, and more. Editor: And how it's worn! The flaking paint shows a clear passage of time. What about the figure, beyond just surface appearance? To me the posture speaks volumes. Shoulders hunched, head down… It embodies abandonment, isolation. The title certainly supports that interpretation. Curator: Agreed. The corner, that of shame but also of refuge and interiority, frames the sitter as turning inwards, reflecting or replaying painful events or feelings. Think of childhood postures of defiance but also of vulnerability and self-protection. Note the single tattoo high on the back—is that a sign of freedom, the little bird motif acting in ironic juxtaposition with the constricting geometry of the corner and the emotional state of being trapped? Editor: It’s interesting how Emin, working in C-print photography here, deliberately opts for an aesthetic that feels almost snapshot-like, pushing against the often-calculated high production values typically associated with fine art photography. It creates this raw authenticity, making the image almost unbearably intimate. Curator: She's inviting us to contemplate both universal and deeply personal themes, using the nude as a symbolic vehicle. Emin draws heavily upon confessional and often deeply unsettling personal history for creative impetus—the unvarnished and sometimes unsettling self as artistic subject matter. Editor: Ultimately, it pushes us to consider our own moments of solitude and vulnerability, the rough corners in our own lives. Curator: It serves as a powerful reminder that shared humanity arises in unexpected ways. This offers profound insight into both her interiority and ours.