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Anatomical Embroideries Offer a Dazzling Look at the Human Body Beneath the Skin

By Sara Barnes on April 4, 2022

A needle and thread do well depicting the anatomy of the human body. After all, one type of medical procedure literally involves stitching the body back together. Artist Amber Griffiths, aka Ambroidering, crafts portraits that reveal what’s beneath the skin, and she uses these embroidery tools to convey muscle groups, nerves, and more. Often, she’ll incorporate beading in the piece, whether that’s in recreating strands of golden hair or blue veins. The results are a dazzling way to explore our biology and pay homage to our amazing bodies.

Griffiths began this series as a way to subvert the traditional Valentine’s Day imagery. “Initially,” she tells My Modern Met, “it all started because I was doing embroidery and I wanted to stitch a Valentine’s piece. I’m not really someone who’s into all the typical lovey-dovey Valentine's style, so I stitched an anatomical heart instead! And I found it a lot more fun and interesting than all the flowers I’d been working on previously, so I carried on with anatomy and haven’t really stopped since.”

Since starting to stitch the series in 2021, Griffiths has continued to grow her anatomy-inspired artwork. She depicts the body in various ways, whether that’s through stitching our insides or using assemblage to create steampunk versions of the human figure. Griffiths has even turned her drawings into enamel pins.

Visit the artist’s Etsy to buy her original pieces and shop her accessories.