A stained Formica table with chewing gum stuck under it doesn't sound like part of an artwork in Australia's national collection.
But more than a dozen of these old tables are the foundation of a "pretty damn special" project about dementia titled Steve by 2026 Archibald prize winner Richard Lewer.
It first went on show at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in late 2025 and is touring nationally until December 2028.
About 450,000 Australians live with dementia. It's the nation's leading cause of death and Lewer has created a moving study of a family dealing with the disease.
The artwork is named for Steve Rollis who emigrated from Greece in 1955, changed his family name from Tseroulis and made a life in Melbourne with his wife Christina and their three children.
The artist discovered Steve's story while working with one of his sons at a boxing gym in Melbourne's north; cleaning up at closing time, Peter Rollis would talk about his father's dementia.
Steve suffered from Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia.
Initially he was forgetful, had trouble remembering directions and found it harder to participate in the family's weekly dinners.
Christina believed it was a normal part of aging but as the disease progressed Steve was unable to feed himself or recognise his loved ones.
"The grieving started before he passed away ... Steve was still physically there but he would forget who you were," Peter Rollis said.
"I'd shower Dad because he couldn't shower himself and he thought a stranger was showering him."
After the grandfather of four moved into a nursing home his family visited daily until his death in 2025 aged 90.
Lewer visited the Rollis family during his final years and the artwork is also the story of Steve's life pre-diagnosis.
The artist found more than a dozen Formica tables in op-shops and online, each with a history of Christmases and family dinners.
He applied paint directly onto them and took thousands of photographs of the process for a stop motion animated film.
"I don't think anyone's ever done that; it's quite ridiculously hard because nothing sticks to those tables," Lewer said.
He made more tabletop paintings inspired by recollections of his own life.
"One side of the gallery was Steve's story and I was on the other, my memories of being alive. That's kind of all we are, these collective memories," he said.
Lewer feels Steve is the most purposeful and touching work he has yet made in a career spanning over three decades.
Creating it came with a deep sense of responsibility but in time Lewer came to feel the Rollis family's participation was cathartic, with the finished work a celebration of Steve's life.
"They were just absolutely chuffed with it," he said.
"It was really super sad ... but it's a love story: Christina and Steve and what they did with their lives."
Steve is also a call to action around how Australian art institutions can help dementia patients, said NGA senior curator Elspeth Pitt.
The national gallery started its Art and Dementia program in 2007 with sessions aimed at enriching the lives of sufferers and carers.
Peter Rollis hopes the opus his father inspired can help people realise dementia is not something they have to deal with alone.
"Mum was so proud, she didn't want to impact on the family ... she didn't want to acknowledge Dad was suffering from a serious disease," he said.
Dementia risk can be reduced with better diet, exercise and cognitive stimulation.
Having helped care for Steve, Peter Rollis also believes more nursing home support is desperately needed.
"I don't think our nation is equipped to deal with what's coming, the number of people experiencing dementia will escalate," he said.
"We're living longer but we're living our later years in a very poor condition and it impacts the person suffering and those left behind."
Steve tours to Redcliffe Art Gallery in Queensland; Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Tweed Regional Gallery and Ngununggula Southern Highlands Gallery in NSW; Manningham Art Gallery in Victoria; and John Curtin Gallery in WA.
