M.C. Escher's work – once thought to be simply bizarre – is now recognized for its brilliant manipulation of patterns and positive and negative space.

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What do you see when you view a piece of art? Many artists will tell you that each person who views the artwork will see it from a unique perspective and appreciate it in a different way.

But how often do you look at art and see math? Probably not often. But math concepts are often applied to the creation of art.

M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist in early 20th century, is well known for his unusual pieces. His drawings flirted with symmetry, patterns, and positive and negative space. The patterns often featured a repeated shape – such as a bird or a frog. A closer look reveals that even the negative spaces – between the shapes – form recognizable shapes. These types of patterns are known as tessellations.

The math concepts that make Escher’s works so intriguing are found everywhere in art and architecture.