Bristol-based Alexander Korzer Robinson creates incredible works of art by carving discarded encyclopedias and literally exposing their inner beauty. Book carving is one of the fastest growing art forms of the moment, and artists like Alexander Korzer Robinson, Brian Dettmer and Guy Laramee are leading the movement.

Korzer Robinson carefully cuts into the pages of old encyclopedias, exposing a part of its illustrations, while removing others, to create narrative scenes that are truly unique. While the images seem like they’re somehow suspended in a series of layers inside the book sculptures, they are actually left in their original place. It’s the artist’s technique that makes it look like they were placed there by hand. As you can probably guess by looking at the artworks below, book carving is a delicate and time-consuming process, but the end results are absolutely mind-blowing.

In an interview with My Modern Metropolis, Alexander Korzer Robinson revealed that he has been working with discarded books for almost five years, and that it took a lot of trial and error before he managed to refine his skills to the point where he creates the sculpted wonders we see today. “The most challenging aspect for me is to find the hidden narrative in the books I cut up. I use mainly non-fiction books as a starting point. I then go through those volumes to find my composition. During the actual process, cutting around some of the images and cutting out others, the narrative of the composition evolves further, and the final pieces is a result of planning and chance”, the English artist says about his art.

Robinson is constantly on the lookout for new books, but for him, encyclopedias are as good as it gets “since the articles of an encyclopedia are just connected by alphabetical order, it creates the most interesting juxtapositions”.