Solenn Heussaff's latest artworks inspired by dad with dementia

Solenn Heussaff revealed that her latest collection of artworks was inspired by her family's ongoing journey with her father, who is living with dementia.

In a report by Nelson Canlas on "24 Oras" Friday, Solenn shared that her new exhibit uses nature as a visual language to tell a story of life's constant changes.

"It's really using nature and foliage as a metaphor, as a language, and also as the visual. So it's about growth and it shows how life is always shifting, always changing,” she said.

“There are dark moments. There are brighter ones, you just have to learn to step out into the unknown. That's the whole vibe of the exhibit," she added.

Among the paintings are pieces inspired by her father's battle with dementia, a disease that has gradually affected his memory and recognition of loved ones.

"Memory fades away, so that's what this is about. I feel like in the field of hortensia flowers, which is my dad's favorite flower, pero abstracted sila dito, I can find him still. Kasi he cannot recognize me and everything,” Solenn said.

“He has not completely disappeared, he's still there, but he's changing, evolving in his own terms, how life made it happen to him. So parang it's all about that. It's the landscape of growth within. He's here with us. He's alive. But he's not there. Alam mo 'yun? Dementia siyempre is a very difficult disease."

For Solenn, creating art has become a meaningful outlet for processing the emotions that come with her father's condition.

She recalled one particularly emotional moment when her father briefly recognized her.

"There are good days. I wouldn't say bad. One time we went to our mom's house and then my dad looked at me and then he just started crying and he's like, 'My daughter.' And I was super crying also. He looked at me again tapos wala na. He was there for a split second," she shared.

Solenn’s current art exhibit, “Bridging the Gap 2,” is ongoing at the Provenance Art Gallery in Powerplant Mall, Makati City.

She previously held an art exhibit in January featuring her painting “Call me Grace.” —Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA News