'Sagittal Series 1/10'
(intaglio etching, 18' x 24')
©May H. Lesser
In gross, anatomy students examined, prepared, and embedded specimens as well as conducted dissection on a cadaver. Figure 15 shows a series of sagittal sections of a human head embedded in plastic blocks. Because the head had been quick frozen, the color of the original structure was preserved. The several overhead arc lamps were beamed from many directions so that there were no shadows from my head on the plate as I engraved it. The progressive cuts begin at the top of the print. The center cut is in the middle, and the bottom of the print is the face of a man, joined with its side view meeting at the eye: the inside of the eye and the outside. I printed the plate in soft colors to keep one’s attention on the structure. The beauty of the original structures caused me to have a sense of intimacy: what could be more personal than to see the inside of a human head and gold it in one’s hand and turn it over and see it this close to me?
Last Reviewed: May 11, 2012