The haunting, romantic women of Dolby's Gothic paintings are often famous literary figures including Ophelia and Mary Shelley, set in a strange, surreal landscape resonant with symbolism. Plants and flowers coil around their limbs and snake across their skirts while religious icons watch from the wall and birds wait like messengers.

Dolby works patiently, building up the graceful lines of thin necks and arms, the folds of garments and the subtle pallor of skin in layers of fine detail. For Dolby, giving time to the paintings allows their emotive qualities to slowly emerge in the midst of their atmospheric palettes, creating works that are as personal and as resonant as diary entries.