Escher (Top Christian Mandala Creator #9) produced a lot of Christian fruit. Looking at his life and art, I found six key characteristics:
- Attention
- Curiosity
- Revisiting / Refinement of Themes
- Visualization
- Creativity
- Pursuit to the End
These attributes helped Escher move forward in his art. Later in this blog series, we will see how Escher’s characteristics can help us move forward in our journey towards Christ.
His works through 1922 are primarily portraits. Below is a self-portrait of Escher created in 1919.
(I know, those eyes look kind of freaky!)
While Escher still did portraits, from 1923 – 1935, his focus had turned to landscapes. Below is a landscape of the Italian coastal town Atrani.
After this period Escher’s focus shifts to tessellations. Unlike most tessellations, which stick with a specific shape, Escher’s tessellating objects also morph. Escher then enters a period of unique perspectives. These perspectives include platonic solids, geometry, and impossible objects. Finally, mandalas appear :D. With mandalas, Escher used different approaches to visualize creation and the infinite.
Using those six characteristics mentioned above, Escher grew as an artist by changing the focus of his prints, while also using what he learned when returning to old subjects. This is a change Escher recognized in himself, and is perfectly illustrated in his print Metamorphosis I:
Here, we see a landscape very similar to Atrani. As we move towards the right of the print, the buildings slowly transform into box-like shapes. These in turn morph into tessellations. But the shapes in the tessellation morph, looking less like a box and more like a person. Finally, a fully drawn-out individual breaks free of the tessellation for all to see.
Through this piece, Escher illustrates his metamorphoses as an artist (with a title to match). Escher transformed from an artist who made prints of landscapes, to an artist who would spend much of the remainder of his life creating tessellations. We want our minds to undergo a similar process, so that we can produce just as much fruit for Christ as Escher did. (Don’t worry; it doesn’t have to be art if that isn’t your gift!)
So how did Escher do it? Those six attributes give us a clue to how he was able to undergo a transformation within himself. As Christians, we’re also supposed to morph, kind of like in Metamorphosis I.
The Greek word metamorphoō basically means to change form. Usually English Bibles translates this as to transform, to transfigure, or change from one form into another.
A lot of the time (when I’m not quoting Bible passages) I’ll be using the word “morph” to describe the concept of metamorphosis. One, because it essentially has the same meaning (i.e. transform). Two, it sounds cooler. Just saying.
As for how we begin this Christian metamorphosis/morph, let’s start with Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)”
We find the Greek word metamorphoō is rendered as “be transformed” in this case. We’re transformed by the renewal of our minds. In other words, as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our minds, we become more and more like Christ.
Stay tuned for the next Christian Minds post on Sunday, where we’ll talk about how attention, Spielberg (that get your attention? lol), and Jesus help us transform our lives.