Selbstporträt mit Seifenblasen 

Helen Dahm created this haunting self-portrait using oil on canvas, a process that allowed her to build up layers of color and texture. Notice how Dahm applied the paint thickly, almost sculpturally. You can practically feel the weight and viscosity of the oil as it was dragged across the canvas. The materiality is crucial here. This wasn't about depicting a photographic likeness, it's about the act of applying paint. See how the colors mix and blend, creating a dreamlike quality, and a sense of the ephemeral nature of the soap bubbles. Dahm doesn't try to hide the way the painting was made, instead she embraces the qualities of the medium to create something full of emotion and mystery. Thinking about materials and making helps us see past the traditional idea of fine art, reminding us that even a painting is, at its heart, a crafted object.