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The painting depicts seven figures, who all look identical, interacting at a bar. They are painted in a realistic fashion, each figure wearing the same white shirt and black pants. Describing the figures from left to right, the first two are kissing each other. The third is leaned back in his chair and adorned in jewelry. The fourth one is behind the bar, pouring the fifth figure a drink and shouting at someone out of frame. The fifth is focused on the drink he is being poured and the sixth is focused on his phone with headphones on. The seventh and last figure is looking straight at the viewer.

The First Drink

Robby Borer

Oil on Canvas, 2022

Undergraduate
This painting describes my search for an identity, as I figure out who I am as a person and who I am as a painter. My work is personal but aims to address questions and feelings that are experienced by many. Sharing this with you is deeply uncomfortable, but my hope is that by analyzing my own thoughts and feelings, you can see yourself within them. I feel like my entire life I have been searching. For what I don’t know. I’ve never been able to find it. Instead of getting any closer, I end up distracted. Distractions are comfortable, easy to obsess over. For a time at least, but they never have an answer to my question; What do I crave?