A little bird told me that this painting is about seeing things from someone else's perspective.
It is intended as a playful homage to René Magritte's, famous 1929 painting The Treachery of Images (La Trahison des images) better known as "This is not a pipe."
The damask wallpaper patterning and the man's sartorial choices suggest a cosy domestic interior of a bygone age.
The image was inspired by a photograph in an old book about teaching budgerigars how to talk.
Painted in oil on canvas, the work combines carefully observed portraiture with surrealist humour. The softly modelled face and clothing contrast with the flattened decorative wallpaper, speech bubble and brilliant blue budgie. The man's restrained smile gives the encounter a warm, conspiratorial quality.
The painting reflects my interest in traditional representation disrupted by unexpected, symbolic and gently humorous elements. Professionally framed in natural timber, it is ready to hang.
This painting was exhibited as part of Punchlines a selective group exhibition at Fortyfivedownstairs gallery., in Flinders Lane, Melbourne. The exhibition was a co-event of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026.