Cycle 1938

This is a lithograph by M.C. Escher, and I can only imagine the dance that he had with this stone to produce this image. He drew, erased, re-drew, and built up these illusions. Look how these little figures almost become unglued as they climb the steps. Escher must have thought about the way that these characters repeat and morph with each step. The checkerboard pattern of the architecture creates this funhouse effect. This isn’t just some neat trick or visual puzzle, but a sort of dark joke. I can almost see Escher, with his little impish grin, imagining these characters being churned through the geometry. It's as if the forms are being processed and spat out, over and over again. Escher invites us into his own process, inviting us to think and see. The image becomes a space of inquiry, of possibility.