Alan Barrett (b. 1999) Is a potter and painter based in Atlanta, Georgia. My paintings are an autobiographical exploration of queer interiority in a post-HIV epidemic world. Raised in a culture lacking queer elders, there was no roadmap for what growing old as a gay man would look like. So naturally, the worst thing for a gay man to become is 26, much less the dreaded 30. It signals the end of the stereotypical depiction of what a gay man should be: young and hot. It marks the beginning of the unknown chapter, where, unlike our straight counterparts, we have no clear idea of what “should” come next. But using a saturated palette and messy brushstrokes, I recount the posed and candid scenes of expected nights out, the unseen intimate spaces, and the bonds of lovers and friends—sometimes both. At 26, I am creating my own roadmap of a gay life lived through documentation of my own. Will I have a moment of colorful, lively youth before inevitably fading into obscurity like generations before me? Or will we continue to be seen in new ways, changing what future generations will understand as growing old as queer?