Oil, emulsion, glitter and paint pens on wardrobe doors on wood panel

120x75cm closed, 120x150cm open

£6,000

Paint-splattered doors, taken from the artist’s childhood wardrobe, caked in scribbles and half-baked poetry — a vessel that once contained clothes — transformed into an altarpiece that opens onto a stage. The exterior of the doors show conjoined mutant monarchs. Royal brothers sharing one body, but ruling with two minds and two crowns.

Artists once built statues of Gods and monarchs, but in the modern era we give our allegiances to popular culture, sports teams and brands. Traditionally the interior of the doors of religious altarpieces are adorned with saints. Here this takes place with the vandalism of statues in Barcelona and Madrid – the names of their respective talismen painted to resemble their jerseys. Loyalty is transferred from church to stadium, from sovereign to celebrity.

At the heart of the altarpiece, an operatic performance unfolds – a singer rendered in x-ray, exposing what lies beneath layers of belief, fashion or allegiance – the bones of what it is to be human – a mirror to the viewer. Roses picked from the Garden Pentaptych are thrown onto the stage with shouts of “Bravo”!