A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things (PG)

Mark Cousins’ tender rumination on artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham

A unique and captivating look at the life of the Scottish artist, this personal documentary delves into her work, journals, and photos to both carve her spot as among the era’s foremost artists and to get inside her mind.

Cousins takes us from cradle to grave, retracing Barns-Graham’s origins in St. Andrews, Scotland, to her life-changing visit to the Grindelwald Glaciers which informed her bending, abstract landscapes. He attributes her unique point of view to her synesthesia, and he often returns to her journal entries. The visual presentation of Barns-Graham’s works has a dynamic energy, presented through simple slide shows, time-lapse, and animated movement alongside and ethereal score. Through sound, vision and Swinton’s calm voicing of Barns-Graham, Cousins articulates the stacked levels of this artist’s mind. Ultimately this is Cousins' tale of his relationship with and investigation into the life of this painter but he never takes away from his subject. It’s a beautiful and important story that rights the wrongs of (art) history to give this extraordinarily talented artist her proper time to shine.