MEDICINE THRESHOLD is a sculptural curtain made of prescription medicine bottles, shredded money, gold paint, metallic fibers, vending machine balls, completed in 2021. Inspired by a childhood memory of my maternal grandmother’s beaded curtain made chunky wooden beads and antique wooden spools, which hung in her basement between the “family” and the “utility” sections. As a child, I remember walking back and forth between them and enjoying the magical feeling of walking over a threshold as in a fairy tale.

The magic in traditional fairy tale stories it comes with a kind of amoral uncertainty. You can enter into the fairy land, but as much as you work upon it, it works upon you, and sometimes in ways you don’t anticipate or desire. Medicine is the same way. This piece illustrates the magic of collaborative research and collective testing that makes medicines possible, the magical ability of medication to heal, the cost and preciousness of medicine, and the uncertainty of side-effects.