Page 20 - 권숙자 개인전 2025. 10. 1 – 11. 15 권숙자안젤리미술관

The Story of Angeli Castle

My Story Through Art

My recent work, The Story of Angeli Castle – The Past, the Present, and the Future, is composed of four sections:
The Past, encompassing the School Days, Uwang Era, Cheongdeok Era, and Mukri Era.

Just as there is no present without the past, and no future without the foundation of reality, it is only natural for an
artist’s surroundings to become the subject or motif of their work.

The themes that fill my canvas can be divided into four sections.

Section 1 – University Days
During my university and graduate years, I devoted myself to academic study, building the fundamentals of painting
through observation of objects and human beings.
While preparing for the University Art Exhibition and the National Art Exhibition of Korea, I experienced the profound
fragrance of art, pouring my passion and soul into large-scale works.

My mentor would often say:

“Return to zero when you work.”
“Be pure, rigorous, and authentic.”
“No matter what happens, spend at least three hours a day thinking about painting.”

In front of the canvas, I always dwell within my teacher’s words—choosing form and color while returning to that state
of Zero.
Without counting honor, career, or time, I become nothing but Zero before my work.

Section 2 – The Uwang Era
In my youth, I lived on the border between life and death—days filled mostly with despair and depression.
Lacking both hope and will to challenge life, I sought distance from my sorrow by spending my summer vacations in
a place I called Uwang (憂忘)—which means “forgetting sorrow.”

Thus, Uwang became my second hometown.

To forget my sadness, I would cross the Mungyeong Saejae mountain pass to a village where long-necked white birds
lived. There, spending entire days with the birds, I longed to become one of them—a being waiting to become whole
again.

Every summer, I carried a large roll of canvas across the mountain, and at the hill’s crest, a white, snow-like landscape
greeted me—a pine forest where the long-necked white birds gathered. Among them, I sought to fill my canvas not
merely with images, but with the fullness of life itself.

In that world of birds, I witnessed a mirroring of human existence—
As much as they love, they are born;
As much as they are born, they despair;
As much as they despair, they die;
As much as they die, they are reborn.

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