Emblemata - Candle Flame 1931

M.C. Escher made this stark wood engraving of a candle flame and Latin and Dutch text. You know, I really feel for the guy who made this. Can you imagine the concentration it took to carve all those tiny dots and lines to describe the candle burning? I think Escher was trying to get at something about transformation, like how something that provides light is actually burning itself out. It's that vulnerability that gets me. You can almost smell the wax and feel the heat radiating from the flame. The black ink almost shimmers like the night sky. It reminds me a little bit of Goya, who also knew how to use darkness to talk about light, but there's a graphic quality here that's totally unique. It's like Escher’s saying something about the human condition and its constant state of change. It reminds us that all artists are in conversation, grappling with big ideas.