Page 53 - 권숙자 개인전 2025. 10. 1 – 11. 15 권숙자안젤리미술관

In contrast to André’s concept, Kwon Sook-ja’s work does not distinguish between the beauty of God and the beauty
of man. She does not confine the essence of beauty to the divine system or human institutional categories. While
aesthetic objects seem to be mixed, they are unified into a sense of oneness. In the natural world, humans, trees, and
even microorganisms are merely creative life forms. As a result, humans harmonize with nature, gain a sense of shared
identity, and further, experience a beauty that breaks out of the category of being completely identified with it.

If the naturalness of nature, as grasped through perception, transcends its essential limitations, it is a collection of
conscious limits and a liberation from the inherent state. We say the sky is blue. However, the sky is actually colorless.
Even if we say water is blue, the color of water is colorless. Even if the sky is red, the color of the sky is not actually
red. What we see is a temporary phenomenon or a natural event judged by human visual cognition. Therefore, in art,
expressions that transcend philosophical logic become possible.

In many of her works, where human figures are depicted on flower stamens like wildflowers, or where flower petals or
blades of grass—which are cognitively considered small—are depicted larger than humans, or where a tree is depict-
ed larger than an island and named “The Tree Guarding the Island,” all materials connected to humanity are assimilat-
ed, and the works symbolizing peace show a fantastical compositional power. More than anything, there is a passion
here to seek an objective aesthetic consciousness while viewing nature as sublime. Consequently, the consciousness
one feels when confronted with the sublimity of immense nature instantly generates admiration.

Descartes understood Admiration as the occasion of the “surprising” and the first passion that arises during any
change. However, admiration for nature in art is not a fleeting matter. The wonder of nature is continuous as long as
we live. The experience of natural beauty, a simultaneous feeling of sustained wonder and liberation from concentra-
tion, is also a boundless sensation.

Accordingly, Kwon Sook-ja’s consciousness also seems to feel a certain infinitude. Yet, it is noteworthy that this is ac-
companied by a type of reflective sense regarding her own existence. It is a perception that grasps the greatness of
nature while simultaneously diminishing the self. The relationship between great nature and her small self evokes a
sense of delight. That is why she can boldly place her own body on a tree or on a blade of grass. While this may appear
objectively and logically improper, it is not a contradiction when viewed through the infinite sense caused by nature
and the perception of the infinitesimal (無限小).

There are times when we lose ourselves in the beauty of nature. At that moment, our soul is absorbed into nature, lib-
erated from all forms of will. And, detached from practical interests, we see beauty for the first time. As a result, various
intentions, both overall and in detail, are expressed as a composite. It is the representation of fundamental will. When
appreciating this, we feel favor, and when we fail to grasp the beauty of nature, we feel repulsion.

However, this phenomenon is not a moral issue. The former is a case of having an aesthetic experience, and the latter
is a case of failing to access an aesthetic experience. All we can do in the aesthetic experience is praise nature and
art. Even if some specific reasons may be raised, this is irrelevant to a moral reaction. It is simply art. Even if Kwon
Sook-ja’s consciousness of the infinitesimal depicts humans as smaller than blades of grass, that cannot be a moral
reason. At this point in time, when destructive art—where the frustration arising from modern people’s limitations of
expression, incompetence, and lack of experience is satisfied by destroying art—is rampant, the Consciousness of the
Infinitesimal is an aesthetic consciousness on a higher level and an original power of expression.

* Infinitesimal (無限小) : Utterly small; a variable that approaches a limit of zero.

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