Escher and His Use of “Metaphor”-phosis Essays - 3084 Words

Escher and His Use of â€Å"Metaphor†-phosis The driving force behind life is the constant process of change. We see the process of metamorphosis on all levels. We see days turn into nights, babies grow into adults, caterpillars morph into butterflies, and on an even grander scale, the biological evolution of species. The process of metamorphosis connects two completely diverse entities, serving as a bridge between the two. Day and night are connected by evening, the slow sinking of the sun in the sky. In a typical life cycle, birth and death are bridged by various life stages, including infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and finally old age. Black can be morph into white through a series of graduations of shades of gray. The†¦show more content†¦Escher gladly did so, as he had only taken up architecture to please his father. Escher studied under Jessurum de Mesquita from 1919 until 1922. After he had concluded his studies, he traveled extensively, mostly in Italy. Escher took up residence in Rome fr om the early twenties until the mid-thirties. While residing there, he made it a tradition to make a journey to the Italian countryside every spring. He traveled long distances on foot in many areas of southern Italy that were not popular for travel at the time. During these explorations, Escher made drawings of whatever interested him, mainly the Italian countryside and the architecture, which fascinated him to draw. During the winters, he would convert the drawings and rough sketches into woodprints. In 1935, the rise of Fascism caused Escher to leave Italy and move to Switzerland. A year later, he made the last of his long study trips, this time on an ocean freighter along the coast of Italy to Spain. On this trip, he encountered several prints created in Spain in the Middle Ages that held a special interest for him and later inspired many of his tessellation pieces. In 1937, Escher moved to a small town near Brussels, returned to Brussels in 1941, and moved a final time in 1970, to Laren, located in the Netherlands. After 1937, Escher traveled a great deal less frequently, leaving home only for vacations, to visit his children living abroad, or on lecture circuits. His