A frontal canine portrait confronts the viewer with unwavering symmetry. The figure is embedded within a layered field of printed fragments — sheet music, typography, partial headlines, and gestural paint.
 
The phrase “Somebody must be the 1st” emerges from the collage as both declaration and residue. It does not read as slogan alone, but as structural condition — an assertion of rank within a system built on comparison.
 
The animal’s gaze is direct, almost unblinking. Unlike sentimental representations of domesticated pets, this presence is controlled and deliberate. The portrait occupies space as a claim rather than a request.
 
Collage elements destabilize authority. Text fragments interrupt the purity of the image, suggesting that hierarchy is constructed — assembled from language, symbols, and repetition.
 
“First” here is not destiny.
It is position — negotiated, asserted, and continually defended.

Original artwork by Julia Shilo
12 x 15 ½ in | 30 x 40 cm
Acrylic, collage, charcoal, pastel, canvas