Homecoming for Whiteread

Fourteen years ago, an aspiring young artist was working at the Serpentine Gallery as an assistant. Her name was Rachel Whiteread. Now she is back, at 38 an internationally renowned sculptor, with an exhibition of her work that complements her monumental upturned plinth in Trafalgar Square.

It features two new pieces, both derived from her studio - a former synagogue. One is a cast of a staircase partly askew and the other, her terracotta floor tiles in iron - reminiscent of the notorious Carl Andre bricks at the Tate.

"When I worked at the gallery, I was struck by its audience," she said. "Always a great mixture of aficionados and recreational members of the public. I wanted the first gallery to initially seem empty, so that the piece was walked upon before it was noticed, acting as an unexpected introduction to the exhibition."

Visitors tend to be chary about walking on what are presented as works of art - whether out of respect or fear of infringing rules - but if they do so this time they are in for a surprise. Ms Whiteread said: "When you walk across it some of the tiles are slightly wobbly. When you're on the piece, it is a bit uncomfortable and there's nothing else on the walls."

To her mind, it precisely met her desire "to make something that was very discreet, but also confrontational".

The other sculptures in the show, whether casts of baths or tables or books, date back to 1988 when she first hit upon the idea of negative images that has become her trademark.

She said: "I was trying to make concrete a childhood experience, sitting in a cupboard and hiding and trying to make this dark, fuzzy, claustrophobic space."

The result was Closet, a piece not on show at the Serpentine. Shallow Breath, a cast of of a mattress made in the same year, is displayed.

Ms Whiteread rose to fame in 1993 with House, a cast of the inside of a condemned house which helped win her the Turner Prize and provoked questions in Parliament.

Her latest work is Monument in Trafalgar Square. She said: "As far as I am aware, the reaction has been good, though there has been some criticism which I take on board."

The Serpentine exhibition opens today.