Ray Whale 2023

This portrait by Gid Zim explores inner solitude and a dreamlike reality by transforming a familiar human figure and injecting surreal elements. The painting captures a middle-aged man with blue skin wearing a red and white striped shirt. He is smoking a cigarette, holding his chin up, which projects a detached yet solitary atmosphere. While the man’s expression appears stern, his eyes are covered by a transparent, goggle-like apparatus or aquarium. Inside this device, small fish swim in water, suggesting that the figure’s gaze and thoughts are immersed in his inner world or a vast, ocean-like imaginative space. The contrasting elements of the fish and the cigarette smoke illustrate the tension between dreamy fantasy and earthly habit. Through this strange juxtaposition, Gid Zim conveys the message that even within familiar everyday life, the individual carries a personal, unshareable universe within.