Managing the Sweet Life (Living with Diabetes), 2024
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Artist statement:
In this artwork I displayed Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. I used inspiration from Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam and Felix-Gonzalez Torres’ Beadworks Collection to create this piece. Since the artwork is going to be exhibited in the TWU libraries I wanted to add the aspect of personal research that goes into managing this disease. Oftentimes sufferers of diabetes rely on changing their diet as a mediation of some of the symptoms as well as oral or injectable medications prescribed from their team of medical professionals. There are sections in the library dedicated to a collection of knowledge to share with the public of this disease and many others. For this project I created a bookshelf from wood and screws then used bound books and drilled through the many layers of them to create a surface for the hands to reach out from. The trickles of ‘blood’ from the beads represent glucose monitoring and the small white beads represent the sugar found in the blood- which is an exaggerated rendering. I then invented titles for both juvenile and adult non-fiction books that would be available for checkout from the library if this were a real situation.
Medical description:
Type 1 DM occurs when beta cells (responsible for secreting insulin) are dysfunctional or have been destroyed due to an autoimmune diagnosis. Type 2 DM is a combination of hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and a relative impairment in insulin secretion. It occurs when the pancreatic beta cells produce insulin, but the body becomes less responsive to circulating insulin. The symptoms of type I and II diabetes present in a similar fashion. Both type I and II diabetics can display polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, fatigue, unexplainable weight loss, blurred vision, peripheral neuropathy, dry/cracked skin, non-healing wounds/sores, and increased incidence of infection. Typically, what can help differentiate the types of diabetes is the onset of symptoms as the disease progresses as well as the age of presentation. The onset for type I diabetics is usually seen earlier in life with symptoms presenting in a range of a few weeks to months. For type II diabetics, the usual trend is an onset later in life (there is an increasing trend in teenagers and adolescents) with a slow progression of signs and symptoms measured in a period of years.Creator
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