## Synopsis
‘Underwater’ is a magical realist moving image work that uses aquaphobia, mermaid mythology and female embodiment to explore the paradox of survival within social structures that appear protective but become suffocating. Through a stylised cinematic language, the film examines how the promise of freedom can become another form of constraint.
## Artist Statement
Water is both life-giving and suffocating. In Underwater, I use this contradiction as a metaphor for the invisible pressures placed on women: the demand to adapt, to appear graceful, and to accept a version of freedom already shaped by others.
May’s journey toward the water is not simply an escape, but a tragic transformation. The film asks whether freedom can still exist when every available path has already been defined by the world around us.
By combining magical realism, aquatic imagery and a restrained psychological atmosphere, Underwater asks whether freedom can still be imagined when every available path has already been shaped by others. The work is part of my wider moving image practice exploring female embodiment, mythic identity and the fragile boundary between protection and confinement.
↳by Ruiqi Zhang