The Fall of Man 1927

M.C. Escher made this black ink drawing entitled ‘The Fall of Man,’ using pen and ink to depict a moment of biblical narrative. Look how meticulously Escher renders every detail, from the leaves of the tree to the scales of the serpent. It must have taken painstaking dedication to render the light and shadow, building up the forms with those fine lines. I wonder, what was Escher thinking as he inked in each tiny mark? Was he seeing himself in Adam, pondering the consequences of choice, lost in thought with his head in his hand? I feel a kinship to Escher when I look at the way he repeats shapes and patterns. Although he is working in such a different medium to me, I understand his devotion to the image, and the hours of labour it takes to bring that image to life. It seems to me that artists, across time and different disciplines, are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another’s creativity. Each artwork is an experiment, a way of seeing, of thinking, and of experiencing the world.