Parallel Lives - V expands the Parallel Lives series by shifting the focus from relationships between people to the diverse ways people engage with art. Set in a museum, anonymous visitors respond differently to the same exhibition. The painting builds a genuinely layered meditation on how class, education, and attention shape aesthetic reception. The six inset works are a witty, art-historically literate curriculum: a Miró-esque line, a Manzoni Merda d'Artista parody relabelled "Piscio d'artista," a Cattelan surreal bandaged cucumber, a Hirst inspired goldfish tank, stitched Fontana cuts, and a Kelly-style colour block. The colourful artworks contrast with the monochrome gallery. The painting explores not only parallel lives, but also the parallel realities through which we interpret the world around us.