Backstage represents the scene of a temple being rebuilt and expresses the threshold between demolition and construction and thus between disorder and order. The unbuilt quality of the building opens onto an atmosphere of wilderness, suggested by the presence of the magpie – a curious inspector of the human-made disorder. The peculiar sight of the ladder from its reverse also blurs our sense of spatial norms. The scene is painted on the back side of the canvas and integrated into an old (unused) wooden frame found in a second-hand market that suggests the image of a theatre stage.