With his sculptures, oil paintings, pen drawings and preparatory studies, Rob Looman introduces a surrealist view of home, people and the city. His work is characterised by alienation, absurdism and humour. This time Looman shows very personal work, made in response to his father's Alzheimer's. Slowly this father is losing his identity, recorded with love and empathy.
My Disappearing Father is about the impact the disease has on the relationship with loved ones: what does it mean, that slow loss of identity, for the person themselves and for those close to them?
“Through Alzheimer's disease I see my father changing. It erodes who he was, but also who I am in relation to him. That feels very vulnerable. Art is my way of making it 'real'. At first we drew together. Nowadays I bring my iPad and, with the drawing program, I entertain him – and myself."