The Long Goodbye is a series that reflects the last seven years of journeying with my dad through dementia – from the pain of watching his panic during the early stages of forgetting, to the blurry end when he no longer knew my name. The paintings reflect my attempts to understand both what I was witnessing and experiencing myself, and to accept the gradual yet excruciating loss as I said goodbye to my father.

The exhibition is divided into nine sections, each section reflecting my attempts at understanding what was happening during different stages and episodes of my father’s dementia. These paintings reflect literal aspects of him, such as excerpts from his sermons and imagery from beloved artists, alongside the more esoteric colours, shapes, and patterns that characterize my memory and experiences of my father.

Anton Dolfo-Smith