If you've been to the doctor's office recently, you know that more often than not that you're sent home with more paper than you know what to do with. This could include diagnosis, further information, and even bills for your visit.
TikTok user @littletinyegg recently shared their artistic process of turning her medical bills into recycled paper. In the video, Kristen says that as a cancer patient, she's accumulated a lot of paper regarding her diagnosis, including surveys, explanations of benefits, and bills. She explains that after saving this paper for about three years, she was accepted to a gallery focused on disability and the environment — and knew that it was the perfect time to turn their medical bills into recycled paper.
The video depicts the process of making the paper, which Kristen says includes dunking the bills into cold water. She then shreds the paper before pressing the fibers together.
Currently, Kristen's video has 3.1M views, 490.1K likes, and a comment section full of supportive people.
I spoke with Kristen, a 28-year-old artist, and illustrator who works under the moniker Little Tiny Egg. Kristen, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2019, said that they started saving papers related to their diagnosis as soon as they began receiving them from their doctor, though they initially weren't planning to use them in an art project.
Kristen told BuzzFeed: "The diagnosis and treatment came with a large amount of information I needed to learn, save, and organize. Collecting the paper was an extension of my attempt to understand what was happening to me." However, Kristen said that the paper soon began adding up, and added, "Almost three years after my diagnosis, I had a pretty thick stack of irrelevant bills, explanations of benefits, and surveys in my closet."
