Uneasy Truce

Medical Diagnosis and Self-definition

Warning: nudity and sexual imagery ahead.

This is an ongoing series of images exploring the way our ideas about ourselves are shaped by medical experiences. The premise is very simple: in our culture, when one receives a diagnosis, the pressure is on to redefine oneself as the vehicle for the disease, as if it had a life of its own. How do we adapt to this?

Among the issues raised are dependence on insurance, drug or medical supply corporations; the separation or integration of physical therapies with social roles, sexuality, and spirituality; the problematic nature of the term "disability"; the barriers between the diagnosed and the undiagnosed person; and the fact of being forced to confront one's mortality on a daily basis.

The physical format for this series is a group of black and white, piezographically printed digital photographs on archival paper, approximately 13 by 17 inches. The pieces use a variety of techniques including unaltered photography and digital montage, but when viewed together they present as a cohesive group.

Me & My Work

My name is Bill Pusztai. I am an artist who works in digital photography. I was born in 1965 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and I currently work in Hamilton and Toronto (where my studio space is located). I have a variety of formal and informal art and design training, and am a graduate of the four-year design program at the Ontario College of Art & Design.

This series is situated within my larger body of work exploring identities in terms of gender, sex, the body, and cultural re-presentation. Related images include explorations of representation influenced by porn, advertising, and medical imagery in general. I speak from the perspective of a North American queer man of Euro/Anglo background. The images with the diabetic paraphernalia are self-portraits. My email is bill@radiantpage.com and my website is at radiantpage.com

Viewing the Gallery

Below are a set of thumbnail images; click on any of them to see larger versions (you will most likely have to scroll to the right as well as down). From there you can return to this page by clicking the "up" arrow at the top of the page, or go on to the next image or the previous image in the series by using the forward and back arrows. If it is inappropriate for you to view images with sexual content then please do not proceed.