Green Sea 

Curator: Immediately, I think… night dive. It's brooding, isn’t it? Makes you hold your breath. Editor: It does. And this M.C. Escher drawing, aptly named "Green Sea", presents an interesting puzzle because it lacks a specific date, but the use of drawing as a medium is very telling. Look closely, and you can see the deliberate process. Curator: Puzzle is right. My eyes keep going to that lighter patch at the top. It almost feels like bioluminescence, a ghostly island forming in the darkness. And what are those holes? It’s strange and alluring… Editor: Notice how the marks vary—horizontal strokes build up a textured mass, likely a representation of deep water, contrasting with tighter, lighter marks. This layered approach to process shows Escher thinking with and through materials. What's also crucial to consider is the paper itself and how that plays into it all... Curator: Thinking with materials... it’s funny because that darkness, that sheer volume of what isn't there...that to me speaks so loudly. It almost drowns out whatever solid forms are fighting to emerge. Editor: Absolutely. The act of creating forms out of this dark ground emphasizes their fragility. Look closely: one sees what could possibly be acrylic on canvas with pastel chalk drawing. Perhaps this work invites questions about the economics of artistic labor. After all, the means and cost to acquire these tools and then the space itself to make such works can be prohibitive. Curator: Do you think he deliberately left it open ended? That rough brush stroke, that sense of incompletion gives the viewer so much freedom to drift into the unknown. Maybe we’re not meant to know exactly what we are seeing. Maybe the point *is* the plunge. Editor: I agree; it creates dialogue, engaging with its lack of resolution is its purpose perhaps...This also highlights how the commodification of even ambiguous art involves intricate dynamics of access, valuation, and power. Curator: You know, viewing it in this way gives the piece even more power. Editor: It reveals an entire process that, ultimately, is still in conversation with us.