Mummified Frog 1946

This is Escher's "Mummified Frog," made in 1946 using the medium of drypoint. There is an emphasis here on process, a dance between the hand, the tool, and the copper plate. Look at how Escher coaxes light and shadow out of this image. The material aspects of the work, like the granular texture and the subtle gradations of tone, give it a tactile quality, as though we could reach out and touch the brittle skin and bones of the frog. I mean, check out the eye socket. It's like a dark, empty void, pulling you into some kind of existential froggy nightmare. Escher's work often explores themes of infinity and transformation, but there is also something of Goya in the morbidity and graphic quality here, that kind of existential scream into the void. Ultimately, art is about embracing ambiguity, right? Escher knew that and wasn't afraid to dive in headfirst, even if it meant confronting the darker aspects of existence.