Rossano, Calabria 1931

This is a print by M.C. Escher, titled "Rossano, Calabria," a landscape rendered in careful black lines. I can imagine Escher standing on some hillside in Italy, squinting a bit, absorbing the scene before him. Look at those lines—they are so straight and firm, describing the contours of the land, creating a sense of depth and volume. The composition almost seems to ripple. What might it have been like for Escher to carve those lines? Each one deliberate, controlled, yet somehow still capturing a sense of the wildness of nature. This image of the landscape almost becomes an intricate, abstract pattern. Escher was concerned with paradox, repetition, and the relationship between mathematics and art. Though this is a landscape, it is also an exploration of perspective and form. As artists, we are always in conversation, building on what came before and pushing against it too.