A device for spatially encoding nuclear magnetic resonance signals is provided. The device includes a plurality of spatial-encoding elements configured to produce a spatial-encoding magnetic field in the presence of an external magnetic field, such as the main magnetic field of a magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) system. The spatial-encoding elements include paramagnetic and diamagnetic spatial-encoding elements. The device further includes a support configured to hold the plurality of spatial-encoding elements in a fixed arrangement. By adjusting the orientation of the device, the spatial-encoding elements are moved relative to each other and thereby produce a plurality of different spatial-encoding magnetic fields. These spatial-encoding magnetic fields are used to spatially encode nuclear magnetic resonance signals emanating from spins in a volume-of-interest adjacent the device. An image reconstruction method for reconstructing images from signals spatially-encoded with the device is also provided.