This painting began as a technical study for art class in school, a reconstruction exercise after Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

While working on the piece, I carved the phrase “Nie wieder” into the back layer as I researched the history surrounding the portrait. Later, I noticed that when sunlight or a candle shines from behind the surface, the words appear through the gold, and then disappear again when the flame dies. That small discovery changed the direction of the work. What began as an academic study turned into a reflection on how fragile remembrance is, and how fragile we are as human beings.

For me, “Nie wieder” is not a historical slogan but an unkept promise. It was meant to protect the vulnerable, the displaced, the civilian, the child. Yet catastrophes return, not as repetitions of the past but as new wounds inflicted on new bodies in new geographies.

The illumination is central: memory requires active maintenance.
When the light is present, the vow becomes visible.
When the light fades, so does the promise.