As noted previously, the traditional anatomical atlas is far from the only way to depict the inner architecture of the human body, but as you can see from the image below, we may well have come across one of the most labour intensive methods imaginable.

Massachusetts artist Lisa Nilsson has used the ‘quilling’ method of rolling and shaping thin strips of paper (in this case, the gilded edges of old books), to create miniature cross-sections of the human body (you can see a bit of the process in progress here), and the result is almost as awe-inspiring as the real thing.

The level of intricacy is nothing short of spectacular, especially given the small scale of the works (a head and torso cross-section only measures 13 x 9 inches), and those looking for even more detailed views than available at the artist’s site can find larger versions of the files here.

Who says paper is dead?…