Paralysis (2021) by Jade Zammit was exhibited as part of her series of canvas paintings Bodies in Water, exhibited during the collective exhibition 'Between Ourselves' at The Mill, curated by Elyse Tonna and part of the SPRING Artistic Programme by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation.

Bodies in Water is the start of an exploration of Jade’s  relationship with volumes of water. When the pandemic hit, and interaction with people was reduced, the artist turned to swimming as a means of meditation and dealing with the uncertainty the world was suddenly faced with. The defined boundaries and the rhythmic patterns of the pool provided comfort and ease, setting the tone of this introspective journey.

“...and I realised how keenly the human mind yearns for geometrical figures.” (Blixen, 1937) 

The works do not solely focus on the meditative and introspective journey the artist experiences weekly, but rather they are also an exploration of her “beautiful fear” of open waters; a shyly and seldom explored territory that draws her deep into a state of anxiety and a whirlpool of nightmarish emotions. The strokes adopted vary to reflect the contrasting emotional state of the artist as she experiences the different bodies of water; smoother and controlled to depict calmness within a confined space versus bolder ones to define her unease within the deep and limitless sea.

The body of works was produced while on residency in Barcelona at RARO, a program made possible through the support of Arts Council Malta.