Untitled (Mystery Series 24)

Duality and mystery were always a defining characteristic of Jai Zharotia’s art but achieved centrality in his Mystery series. In this work, a figure sits beside a giant yak-like creature. The stance of their bodies shows them to be companions—there is no hostility but a natural physical closeness born out of long knowing each other. The sense of mystery is conveyed through the grey-black palette and the absence of any contextual reference in the background. What is it that the two are holding between themselves? Or is it the man’s alter ego looming large over his real being?