A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things

Prolific documentarian Mark Cousin’s latest poetic film explores the life and career of Scottish modernist painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham - an artist often sidelined, he argues, by her male peers. Featuring Tilda Swinton as the voice of the artist, the film dives into themes of climate change, neurodiversity, gender, and the artist’s vocation. Barns-Graham’s synesthesia was central to her practice and here the world of nature is summoned through lines, colours and shapes, with a sensitive soundtrack by Irish composer Linda Buckley. Drawing from Barns-Graham’s sketches and paintings, spanning from 1970 to 1994, the film explores how a pivotal experience atop Switzerland’s Grindelwald glacier reshaped her perspective for decades to come.