Metamorphosis II excerpt 6 1939

This part of M.C. Escher’s ‘Metamorphosis II’ presents us with a city melting into a chessboard, a real head-scratcher rendered with ink, woodcut, and wood engraving. I can imagine Escher, hunched over his work, mapping out every detail of this impossible scene. What was he thinking as he bridged the gap between the solid architecture and the abstract patterns? How did he decide to transform a building into a chess piece? Was he trying to say that the world is a game of strategy? Or maybe he just liked the challenge of messing with our heads. I love that! There's something satisfying about seeing forms shift and change before your eyes. It's like he's saying nothing is fixed, everything is in flux. It reminds me of other pattern-based artists like Bridget Riley, who create optical illusions. These artists remind us that art is not just about showing what is, but about making us think.