San Giovanni, Ravello (February 1932) 1932

M.C. Escher made this wood engraving, San Giovanni, Ravello, in February 1932. You can tell it’s a wood engraving because of those super crisp lines. I can imagine him, Escher, carefully carving away at the woodblock, and how he made those marks using chisels and gouges. Each line is so deliberate, so controlled. Like, he had to commit to each one. I always find that when I'm making art, the space becomes like a place of inquiry, and I wonder what he was thinking when he made it. Look at the way the light and shadow create depth, how the lines define the forms of the buildings and the landscape. See how those horizontal lines in the sky create a sense of atmosphere, almost like fog hanging over the scene? Escher was known for his tessellations and impossible spaces, but in this work, he is thinking about space and place. It is so different from my own work, yet I still feel like we’re in conversation. Artists are always inspiring and challenging one another across time and space.