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Swedish artist Hilma af Klint is considered one of the first abstract painters in Western art history, and now she\u2019s the subject of a new biopic from Academy Award-nominated director Lasse Hallstr\u00f6m \u2013 which saw the cast use some rather unorthodox research methods.<\/p>\n
Hilma was part of a group of female artists known as The Five, who incorporated spirituality and seances into their work, and according to cast members Maeve Dermody and Lily Cole \u2013 who play Sigrid Hedman and Mathilda Nilsson respectively \u2013 they used similar methods as part of their acting process.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was not much information at all, there were a few images but very little information [about Sigrid and Mathilda],\u201d Dermody said during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo early on, we did a seance with a psychic. We met with him and for about two hours Hilma was present with him \u2013 and she gave us a lot of information.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of information!\u201d Cole agreed. \u201cAnd it felt to me very respectful to the women\u2019s beliefs and to the women\u2019s tools, the way that they worked \u2013 because they used psychic work and communicating with spirits.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it felt really respectful to kind of honour their beliefs and use this process to get a lot of information that we would never otherwise find. Because, you know, the emotional dynamics, the relationships \u2013 all the important stuff when you play a character wasn\u2019t documented.\u201d<\/p>\n