William G. "Bill" Fink is a California-based American artist known for his technique for producing images of his subject matter by making the photograph itself out of soil, clippings of human hair, pollen, cremation ashes, etc.

[5] Christensen died of AIDS in 1991 in Long Beach, California at the age of 39, and his mother donated the ashes to Fink in accordance with her son's wishes.

[6] Fink then took these ashes and created a photorealistic image of Christensen's face with them using his undisclosed technique.

[7] The image was considered controversial not only for its stark depiction of a person nearing death, but because of the unconventional medium of which Fink created it.

Reactions of viewers during its two-month exhibition at the Valley HIV/AIDS Center in Van Nuys, California in 1992 ranged from understanding it as productive/ creative commentary on loss to offensive and insulting.