Dream Walk 1977

Helen Frankenthaler made "Dream Walk" with lithography, a process that's all about layering and building up images, kind of like how our minds work when we're dreaming. Look at how she's built up the colors – these hazy pinks and purples, streaked with red and yellow, float like memories or half-formed thoughts. There's a real physicality to how she's applied the ink, you can almost feel the sweep of her hand. Notice that thin red line near the top. It's so delicate, yet it anchors the whole composition, like a horizon line in a dreamscape. Frankenthaler, like other artists such as Joan Mitchell, embraced ambiguity, reminding us that art is not about fixed meanings, but about opening up possibilities.