more agnes

The Sundance Channel was showing "Agnes Martin: With my Back to the World" by filmmaker Mary Lance last night, which I eagerly watched with great interest. The documentary gives insight into Agnes' life of solitude, her paintings, and her thoughts on the world with interviews given over the course of four years during the final decade of her life. It also features photos and archival footage along with readings of her poetry and lectures.

A poem from her book, Writings, & recited in the film...

I can see humility
Delicate and white
It is satisfying
Just by itself

And Trust
Absolute trust
a gift
a precious gift

I would rather think of humility than
anything else.

Humility, the beautiful daughter
She cannot do either right or wrong
She does not do anything
All of her ways are empty
Infinitely light and delicate
She treads an even path
Sweet, smiling, uninterrupted, free

"My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind." - Agnes Martin

Oh, how I do heart Agnes!