Running down the centre of the new Wellcome Trust Gallery at the British Museum is a 13-metre art installation called 'Cradle to Grave'. It provides an overview of the ways in which we respond to our own ill health and try to maintain a sense of wellbeing in Britain today. It has taken my sciart partners Dr Liz Lee, David Critchley and myself, collaborating as Pharmacopoeia, two years to develop and construct this work which incorporates all the pills a man and a woman might take in their lifetime, as well as photographs from family albums and other health-related objects.

I was particularly pleased to be associated with the new gallery as it was thanks to a Wellcome Trust sciart award that we were able to start our pharmaceutically based work back in 1998. Although I am a textile artist I was brought up in a household filled with talk about science-related issues, as my father Chris Freeman ran the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University. As a student at the Royal College of Art I created a pocket knitting technique that enables me to trap and transform small hard objects into large flexible fabrics. Nylon yarn renders the pockets transparent so that the enclosed contents are clearly visible.

The seeds of my collaboration with GP Liz Lee were sown in 1998. I had recently been approached by a US gallery to make a piece containing pills. Liz and I are friends from schooldays and describe ourselves as having had an ongoing conversation about periods, contraception and conceptions. While sitting chatting on a beach our conversation easily turned to work and it quickly became clear that by combining Liz's medical knowledge and my textile work an interesting and potentially useful artwork could be made.

Through a sculptor friend I heard about the sciart scheme and applied just in time to be shortlisted. Although our ideas were in an early stage of development, the judging panel recognised their potential and we became one of six award winners. This was hugely significant as it not only allowed me time to work but also gave a supportive seal of approval. Using my understanding of the textile medium and the world of fashion I began to explore health themes, often based on personal experience, while referencing Liz's knowledge as a GP.

I think the fact that we are friends allows the relationship between scientist and artist to blur, as I contribute to the medical and scientific ideas and Liz has input into the artistic decisions that we make. The ideas continue to arrive from discussion between us. Each is honed to see if it has a message worth developing, that the drugs required to make it are accessible and ultimately an artefact can be produced strong enough to carry that message.

Our first pieces were 'Come Dancing', a ballgown containing 6500 contraceptive pills, and 'One for The Road', which considered treatments for arthritis of the hip. The arrival of video artist David Critchley to the partnership broadened the depth and scope of our work. Together we produced 20 more pieces to complete the national touring exhibition 'Pharmacopoeia' which opened at the RCA in 2000 as part of the BA Festival 'Creating Sparks'.

The broad appeal of the work is confirmed by the frequent press coverage it attracts, even from tabloids. We have chosen to address common medical issues, ranging from teenage sexuality to the disability associated with emphysema, in order to connect people of all ages and background. By showing in public galleries and museums we reach a large audience. Work in a health setting is more specifically targeted - in one orthopaedic outpatient clinic we have a piece about hip replacement, and in a GP surgery a dress about accidental overdose in children who mistake pills for sweets.

Until Pharmacopoeia my work had been claimed by the craft rather than the art world. For most of my career these have occupied parallel universes with little common ground and a high degree of mutual suspicion. In 2001 I took a stand at Chelsea Crafts Fair, showing Pharmacopoeia pieces alongside purely decorative work. It was there that I met British Museum curator Dr Henrietta Lidchi, and the first discussions took place that led ultimately to 'Cradle to Grave'. This work at the British Museum addresses not only the relationship of art with science but also challenges the position of art and craft both in the work itself and in the context of its place in the British Museum. It exists as an art installation that has elements touching on all those practices.

Our use of family photos in 'Cradle to Grave' has proved so successful that we are hoping to use more in a new piece currently in development. Working with the charity Keep a Child Alive, which links individual sponsors with African children in need of antiretroviral treatments for AIDS, we aim to document the 'pharmacological history' of a number of children alongside their photographic histories. By turning our gaze from Britain to Africa we hope to take our sciart collaboration into new territory.

External links

• Pharmacopoeia: Further details of the 'Cradle to Grave' art installation and the collaborative team
• Cradle to Grave Pharmacopoeia featured in the 'Living and Dying' exhibition at the British Museum