ADVANCE: How do you look at X-rays differently from doctors?
BAGLEY-YOUNG: Often, doctors and radiologists comment on the anatomical accuracy of my X-ray artwork. This is not my ultimate goal. X-rays are seldom regarded as objects with inherent beauty that merit artistic interpretation. When medical professionals examine X-rays, they consider what is wrong with the bones, rather than what is appealing about them. Instead of focusing on radiography's medical applications, I am interested in exploring how various media can enhance the flat image that this process creates.

ADVANCE: Can you elaborate on how you do that?
BAGLEY-YOUNG: By translating a 3-dimensional structure onto a 2-dimensional transparent film, X-rays create a confusion of overlapping bones. In X-ibit, I am interested in enhancing this flat image rather than focusing on broken bones or the structure of the skeletal system. By using different media, my artwork draws attention to different aspects of the internal structure of the human body.
The hand-printed etchings highlight the texture and density of bones, which I achieved by building up the image with small lines, and by printing it with white ink on black paper.
The digital prints emphasize the transparent film that the image is exposed onto. I scanned actual X-rays into a computer, and then changed the skeletal structure. I removed and added bones, shifted them around, and combined bones from different parts of the body.
In "Capokinesis," I added the element of motion, or passing time, by overlapping three children's skulls so that it appears that the head is lifting. After making these changes, I printed the images out on transparency film and affixed them to a light box so that the finished prints appear to be real X-rays.

ADVANCE: Whose work has influenced you to follow this path?
BAGLEY-YOUNG: I am influenced by historical images of the human body: Gray's Anatomy, Vesalius's De fabrica humani corporis and Leonardo's anatomical drawings.

ADVANCE: What is going through your mind when you're creating works such as the "Skull, Anteroposterior View?"
BAGLEY-YOUNG: On its own, "Skull, Anteroposterior View" may be viewed as a morbid image. Seen in the context of the rest of the series, it reveals the internal structures necessary for life. By applying charcoal to the whole surface and erasing certain areas, I have explored the interplay of positive and negative space. "Skull, Anteroposterior View" is one of six large drawings on frosted mylar, which emulates the transparency of X-ray film. The white wall, which can be seen through the mylar, acts as a source of illumination.

ADVANCE: You've also created an animation of your brain. Where did you get the idea for that?
BAGLEY-YOUNG: The computer animation of my brain brings a third dimension to the series, which is otherwise comprised of two-dimensional works of art produced from a two-dimensional X-ray image. The animation was created from 170 sagittal slices of my brain imaged using fMRI. I was given the scans in exchange for participating in a psychology research project.

ADVANCE: What is your favorite piece from X-ibit?
BAGLEY-YOUNG: My exploration culminated in a black-and-white panoramic painting of a magnified area of bone, titled "X-ray." Working on such a massive scale (20 feet x 5 feet) was a challenge, but it allowed me to represent bones in a more abstract and creative way. From afar, it is almost unrecognizable as part of the skeletal system. As you move closer, the painting is composed of the hazy textures of overlapping bones and ghost-like shadows of the surrounding tissue.

ADVANCE: What are you working on now?
BAGLEY-YOUNG: Although I'm primarily involved in full-time study, I am working on small watercolors and etchings based on viruses and microscopic biological images.