The monolith

10 MINUTES

What will an artist paint when a new high-rise blocks her view of New York?

For Gwyneth Leech, being an artist is fraught with many of the same frustrations inherent to more typical lines of work – anticipatory morning dread, dispiriting commutes, and bouts with disinterest and procrastination. Further exacerbating the daily grind, in 2015 a hotel construction project began rising beside her Manhattan studio, set to slowly but surely eclipse the 13th-floor skyline panorama from which she drew much of her inspiration.

At first, Leech believed that the upward-creeping high-rise would so rupture her process that she’d have no choice but to leave. In time, however, she found a fresh muse in what she called ‘my new friend, the monolith’, painting the building as, month by month, it climbed ever upward. As time passed, and the workers reached eye level, they’d even exchange waves and words, and she’d show her work to them out of the window. For Leech, there was an unexpected and cathartic beauty to the incremental inevitability of her view’s erasure, which seemed to echo recent losses of close family members to chronic illnesses.

The short documentary The Monolith is a brisk and welcoming glimpse into Leech’s unexpected creative awakening. By focusing on a single project, skilfully interweaving aspects of Leech’s personal life, and augmenting her paintings with animation, the US director Angelo J Guglielmo Jr builds his own inspired work – a refreshing standout in the overcrowded artist portrait genre. It helps that Leech’s brilliant, impressionistic creations are themselves so enchanting, reflecting the endless, ever-changing contours, colours and possibilities of a New York City skyline.

Written by Adam D’Arpino

Director: Angelo J Guglielmo Jr

Producers: Andy Bowley, Rosie Walunas

Explore more

A woman drawing on an easel in a courtyard with greenery and a modern glass building in the background.

To become more attuned to the world around you, try sketching outdoors

Video by The Museum of Modern Art

Abstract drawing of a face with vibrant colours, featuring red cheeks and a patterned necklace on an orange background.
Psyche Exclusive

Born of memory and mystery – the otherworldly works of a self-taught, unhoused artist

Directed by Tal Amiran

Illustration of two stylised people running on a boardwalk near the sea with telegraph poles and wires in the background.

How increasing short-term pleasure can help you achieve your long-term goals

Video by TED-Ed

An Aboriginal painter depicts scenes from her youth in this beautiful short

A film by Grace Kemarre Robinya and Jonathan Daw

Surreal photo of a person wearing glasses and a hat with their face distorted, leaning towards a camera in a hallway.

This sculptor finds deep weirdness – not divinity – in the human form

Directed by Ben Berman

An elderly woman in black standing in a garden of pink roses with snow-capped mountains in the background.

Mzia the elevator operator leaves her post for the first time in two decades

Directed by Madeline Leary

An elderly woman in a patterned beanie holding a red card with holes punched into it in front of her face.

Circles possess a defiant beauty in the abstract works of Howardena Pindell

Directed by César Martínez Barba

A woman holds a square mirror that blocks her face; it reflects rocks and grass. There is blue sky and clouds in the background. The only element in focus is the reflection on the mirror.

Losing her eyesight, a painter’s art evolves with the way she sees the world

Directed by Liberty Smith