Geometric structure in Escher’s artwork through inspiration and creativity

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is a Dutch artist known for his mathematically inspired paintings, making him a pioneer in trying to represent mathematical operations through art. His paintings show many impossible compositions and attempts to explore infinity, architecture and mathematical repetitions. Escher shifted from his study of architecture and decoration to graphic and photography, focusing on wood painting, lithography, and mezzotint techniques (copper or steel etching). Without a doubt, his education had an impact on the creation of his own style. Almost every work of Escher refers to fundamental artistic elements such as point, line, surface, shape, space and structure which appears as educational, realistic and unusual examples. The understanding of Escher's genius is accompanied by an understanding of mathematical structure in his works, which makes him seem as if his unconscious has entered into other stages of perception. The works look like letters and puzzles that take viewers decades to solve them, despite their simplicity in drawing, and the transfer of images of the elements without stripping or through the limited colors sometimes represented in only two colors or black and white. Escher studied graphic arts and was the creator of charming landscapes, spatial fantasies, and impossible buildings in wood carving and lithography. It is perhaps best known to combine mathematics with art in its magnificent forms and patterns. Escher considered the world to be a highly organized and complex place, contrary to what was popular in his time, that the world resulted from creative chaos or by accident. He believed that things differed according to our perception. In his paintings, Escher displayed a large number of mathematical concepts, including symmetry, reflection, and infinity. Therefore, in this paper, we will analyze some of his works based on the regular division of the plane and access to the structural geometric relations of his artworks to be the inspiration in design process. Statement of the problem: This paper deals with an analytical experiment that aims to find the geometrical and structural relationships that can be used in the uniqueness of design, by studying the works of Escher and determine its systems and the geometrical compositions that he uses to build its tessellations. Objectives: Clarify the structural relations of Escher’s artworks in his various fields, Examine Escher’s geometric rules to create different new design visions. And acknowledge the philosophy behind the artworks an emphasizing its importance in composition. Methodology: The research follows the descriptive and analytical approach of some of Escher’s technical printings. Findings: Developing design thinking through attention to the base of geometric structures for composition and design. Analyze the artistic works and reveal their structural dimensions other than the aesthetic and functional dimension. Creating a permanent interaction between the viewer and the artist makes the viewer always searching for the key to solving the puzzle and enjoy the thought and genius of the artist in how to arrange and formulate elements of his artwork.