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A bizarre sculpture of Rachel Reeves has been mocked online, with one critic describing the artwork as “infinitely more useful”. An image of the piece was posted on Instagram by the portrait artist, Wilfrid Wood, on Tuesday (April 14).

Made of plasticine, the bust of the Chancellor is part of an exhibition from the Society of Portrait Sculptors on show at Chelsea Barracks in London. The piece provoked a range of reactions among Instagram users. One, commenting from an account titled david_f_brown, quipped: “Infinitely more useful”.

Another, gmansmitters, reacted with shock, saying: “Christ on a bike”. A third, peter_dawes_ wrote: “Looks like Morph’s girlfriend”, referring to the plasticine children’s TV character.

Others praised the work, hailing it as “magnificent”, “brilliant” and “so good”.

The work also received a mixed reaction on X, where Faith333 said it made them laugh “a lot”.

Fellow X user, martin, tweeted: “I still recognised her… It’s very accurate”.

Others suggested that for them the sculpture looked more like Richard III or Ringo Starr from The Beatles.

London-based Wood is no stranger to portrayals of British politicians, having built latex heads for the TV satire, Spitting Image.

He has previously exhibited at the Copeland Gallery, Somerset House and the Royal Academy, among others.

His Instagram account @wilfirdwoodsculptor has 120,000 followers and includes an introductory line which reads: “Politely upsetting people”.

The Society of Portrait Sculptors is a group of sculptors who want to make such work more accessible to the public.

Its 62nd exhibition is on at The Garrison Chapel at Chelsea Barracks until April 23.