It’s a confusing time to say the least. I, for one, have no idea what’s going on anymore. Sometimes the world just seems completely void of sunshine, we seem to be stuck under some sort of monochromatic, low-hanging blanket of cloud, deadlines and general November gloom and doom. Not to mention that fact that now Fife is in Tier 3 which means restaurants and cafes are practically closed by the time you have finished classes for the day and contact sport is no longer allowed under any circumstances.

In such a confusing and dull time, what better artist to turn to than Maurits Cornelis Escher. Incredibly famous for his monochromatic woodcuts of staircases that appear to lead nowhere or a checkerboard of fields that turn into a flock of birds, Escher seems like the perfect artist to represent this unique November.

Born in the Netherlands in 1898, Escher studied architecture and decorative arts before his interests turned towards print-making and drawing. Although he believed he didn’t possess much mathematical ability, Escher’s work largely draws inspiration from his understanding and intuition of visual and aesthetic concepts within mathematics. In his earlier works he focussed on nature and natural forms before gradually beginning to play with geometry, tessellation, perspective, optical illusion and more.

Perhaps one of his most famous prints, Relativity (1953) depicts an architectural structure filled with staircases and faceless figures. The space he has created within the print shows both the external façade and also interior of a building seen from several different angles. Neither the staircases nor the figures seem to adhere to the laws of gravity: simultaneously facing the right way up or the wrong way up, going up or going down and nothing leading anywhere.

To me this distorted reality seems very reminiscent of my current view of the world. Constantly I am disorientated by the current situation, entirely unsure of where I am going, The days have all blended into one and everybody with their facemasks on is featureless, just bodies in a waking nightmare. I suppose this is what happens after you watch six seasons of a television show in five days.

Regardless of my gloomy, November induced rambling, Relativity also teaches an important lesson. More than just creepy faceless figures going nowhere and confusing staircases leading to nothing, we should remember that everything is relative. Usually I would be professing my love to November via toffee apples and bonfires hot chocolate. This year is wildly different of course. I am sure that everyone is experiencing this November differently, some better and some worse than I am, Escher’s work reminds us to put everything into perspective and realise that each person experiences the world differently.

Another lithograph print, Hand with Reflecting Sphere, is also interesting to look at in regards to the current situation. In it we see a hand holding a reflecting sphere, the reflection within the sphere shows Escher himself, seated alone in a study or office of some sort, staring directly at the viewer, or, perhaps, himself.

Self-portraits in reflective spherical reflective surfaces are fairly common in art history, bringing to mind a self-portrait of Parmigianino from the sixteenth century. However, it is common to find self-portraits of the artist defining their career and personhood by portraying themselves painting or drawing in their self-portraits. With this piece that is not the case. In Hand with Reflecting Sphere Escher is just sitting, staring rather arrestingly in a way that tells us he is studying himself, or the viewer, intensely.

In the room beyond his reflection chairs seem to be placed haphazardly, as if there was company in the recent past, but suddenly everyone decided to get up and leave. The room gives a sense it may have been home to conversation between friends but now we are alone. It’s sort of like studying alone in a room now, when last year it might have been filled with people.

I suppose, in a way, we are the centre of our own worlds. The sole figure within a reflection in a sphere or on our own stairway to somewhere in particular. But we should also remember that everyone else is also on their own stairway to their own somewhere. People with purpose, carrying their bags to the laundry or rushing to work or watching the sunset as they walk home from classes. Everything feels a little gloomy at the moment but I am encouraging you to look at things with perspective, maybe try a different angle and you’ll be walking up a staircase instead of down.