"I had emerged into another world...The world
of trees and wild bushes was being thinned. I heard the ghostly wood-cutters axing down the titanic irokos, the giant baobabs, the rubber trees and obeches. There were birds' nests on the earth and the eggs within them were smashed, had fallen out, had mingled with the leaves and the dust, the little birds within the cracked eggs
half-formed and dried up, dying as they were emerging into a hard, miraculous world. Ants swarmed all over them."
The Famished Road by Ben OkrI
Paradise Lost marks the debut solo exhibition of Jade Zammit, a personal exploratory journey. In this new body of work, Zammit confronts the fragility of paradises—both real and imagined—that are perpetually "hanging by a thread." How do these paradises unravel over time? What remains when the thread finally snaps, and the utopian visions dissolve into disillusionment? The works vary not just in form, but in their thematic undertones, reflecting the multifaceted nature of paradise itself—a concept that is as fragile as it is alluring.
Drawing upon the romanticised portrayals of non-European cultures, Zammit uses the Gobelin tapestries housed in Valletta’s Grand Master’s Palace as a foundational reference. These 17th-century masterpieces, initially commissioned to evoke awe, mystery, and wonder, are reinterpreted through Zammit’s contemporary lens. Inspired by the idyllic yet ultimately disillusioning scenes in Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian series and the decaying world of colonial Africa as depicted in Ben Okri’s 'The Famished Road', Zammit's work weaves together threads of personal memory with broader themes of a deteriorating paradise.
Zammit’s work delves into the discomfort associated with the loss of the natural world, a paradise that, like the tapestries she references, is both beautiful and precarious. Through an almost imaginary perspective, she evokes a deep sense of nostalgia, compelling us to reflect on the fragility of both personal and collective histories. How do we reconcile the idyllic pasts—whether personal or cultural—that have fragmented into unsettling realities?
As viewers, we are invited to journey through this exploration with Zammit, reflecting on her perceptions of paradise. Are we, too, holding on to something that is hanging by a thread? And when that thread snaps, what do we find ? Zammit does not merely present a series of artworks; she offers us a space to dream, to question, to reflect, and perhaps come to terms with the inevitable losses.
Curated by Maria Galea
Produced in collaboration with Marie Gallery5
Produced in collaboration with Marie Gallery5
