Sixteen photographs of my HIV pills on baby blue velvet; arranged in a grid and mirrored and flipped to create the repeating diamond patter found in traditional Choctaw basketry.

When I was first diagnosed, my t-cell count was so low that my diagnoses was full blown AIDS. The doctors cycled me through a series of medications trying to find a medication that had the right combination for my circumstances. The side effects to some of these were intense. If you take Atripla during the day it can make you hallucinate; so you take it before bed and then have the most psychedelic dreams imaginable.Two of the pills pictured (Tivicay and Oddefsy) have been the most effective with the least side effects.

Last year there was a bureaucratic hiccup and I didn’t have access to any of my meds for 4 months. My t-cells plummeted to a ten year low and my viral load skyrocketed. None of this medication costs as much as they sell them for, and the total annual cost of the two that I currently take is $68,000 a year. This cost is subsidized through various programs and insurance, but the pharmaceutical companies get paid regardless. Many of the companies refuse to allow generic versions of these pill, which would cost $1 for each pill instead of $90 a piece.

May everyone involved in the for-profit pharmaceutical business eventually find the hottest room in hell.

Medications pictured and their annual cost:

Atripla-$30,000

Complera-$37,000

Odefsy-$38,000

Prezista-$30,000

Reyataz-$19,000

Tivicay-$30,000

Norvir-$2,800