An artist has turned a cancer diagnosis into a powerful work of art.
The exhibition, titled Pharmakon, is currently on display at the University of Brighton and explores life, illness, and the dual nature of medical treatment through deeply personal and provocative installations.
Markus spent the entire two-year course under "active monitoring," a "watch and wait" approach where treatment is delayed until symptoms progress.
He said: "It is a way of empowering myself to reclaim the narrative and tell my story, rather than allowing it to be represented solely as pathology."
After months of hospital visits and a taxing nine-month chemotherapy regimen, Markus channelled his trauma and exhaustion into art, choosing to represent the physical and emotional realities of cancer through creative expression.
The exhibition’s title, Pharmakon, is drawn from ancient Greek—a word that means both remedy and poison.
Knowing that one in two people in the UK will be affected by cancer, Mr Taylor hopes the exhibition will prompt visitors to confront the emotional and physical realities of illness, while re-examining how society talks about care, medicine, and mortality.
Markus said: "Being diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of my MA completely shattered the version of myself I thought I knew but it also forced me to confront things I might otherwise have buried.
"The disease, the treatment, the uncertainty, they all became part of my practice.
"Pharmakon came out of that process, not as a way of explaining the experience, but as a way of holding it.
"It’s about letting people see what we usually keep hidden."
His role focuses on bridging the gap between cancer researchers and patients, especially those from underrepresented communities across Sussex.
He said: "Studying at the University of Brighton gave me the space, the tools, and the language to shape something meaningful out of that chaos.
"I wasn’t just encouraged to make work; I was encouraged to question what that work could do in the world.
"That freedom, and the support I had from my tutors, allowed me to lean into the vulnerability and turn it into dialogue."
Pharmakon features three central sculptural works, including a sealed chemical drum containing nine pints of Mr Taylor’s own cancerous blood.
There is also a two-metre corrugated iron structure made from recycled materials from a former nuclear power station.
A hospital trolley displays symbolic objects such as red ribbon, mistletoe, and wool.
"Pharmakon brings visibility to the emotional and physical complexities of illness, and challenges us to think differently about care, treatment and communication."
The exhibition also includes a symposium on June 13.
The event will include talks from cancer researchers and academics from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, as well as creative writing from the Words from the Waiting Room project.
Pharmakon is free to attend and runs from June 13 to 30 at the Watson Building on the University of Brighton’s Falmer campus.
Share