Every cloud has a silver lining. 2010. Wall drawing. 590.6 in x 212.6 in. Dresden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This work was made with many different pieces of coal which produced a lot of dust during its creation. Accentuating the idea of the ephemeral, it was meant to fade with time.

What happens when the dust settles?

The British/American aerial bombing in 1945 destroyed the German city of Dresden, killing over 20,000 people. The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts was one of the few remaining buildings that wasn’t completely run down into the ground. Most of the city, including a majority of the historical monuments, was renovated and restored to its former glory after the war, but the pain and memory of its prior destruction still resonates within the walls. Much like the title ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’, this incident is drenched in ambiguity and became a subject of major contention and debate. It was argued that it hastened the end of the Nazi regime, but the wreckage and suffering caused to the city and its people was and continues to be irrevocable.