Christmas Card 1955

This Christmas Card was created by M.C. Escher, though the exact date is unknown. It seems to me to have come into being through a shifting process of black and white stripes, each mark added incrementally through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Escher in the making of this piece. Imagine what it might have been like to create the figure from curvilinear lines? What was he thinking when he decided to segment the figure in this way? Was it an exercise, or a work made in jest? The black ink looks fairly opaque against the stark white ground, and the surface appears smooth. The gesture of holding the object above her, is particularly intriguing, and somehow communicates feeling, intention, and meaning, all at once. Escher’s work relates to the work of many graphic artists who use lines to create shape and depth. It shows that artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. As an embodied expression, this print embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.