It is amazing how one concept can generate so many different works of art. This past Thursday, students, faculty and other members of the Brandeis community gathered at Kniznick Gallery at the Women's Studies Research Center for the closing reception of "Floors and Ceilings," a student art exhibition hosted by the WSRC.

WSRC Curator and Director of the Arts Michele L'Heureux explained that Nera Lerner '12, the assistant curator for "Floors and Ceilings," initiated the exhibition's overriding question: What is the relationship between floors and ceilings and gender issues? L'Heureux explained, "The show is feminist themed but broad enough to access. There are different approaches that one can take. ‘Floors and ceilings' can speak about glass ceilings, economic theories and domestic spaces," L'Heureux said. In other words, there is room for artistic experimentation within Lerner's theme because it is open-ended enough to allow for various interpretations.

This ambiguity was evidenced by the diversity of student work at the show. Media ranged from sculpture to painting to collage to photography. Students used a wide variety of materials to create their pieces. For example, Milcah Bassel, PB '11, created an installation called "This Monster, The Body," from papier-mâché. This sculpture was fascinating; it was this large, abstract form that looked different from every angle.

Students also expressed a colorful range of perspectives on gender identity through their pieces. Aviva Paiste '13 talked about her photography piece, "Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water," in an interview with justArts. "I was doing a photography project on androgyny and how the use of props affects the way a body is read as having gender." Paiste went on to explain that she wanted viewers to question the gender identity of the person in her piece. Paiste said, "The idea behind the project was for people to stop and look at the pictures and think, ‘That boy is wearing a hat' and then see the other and think, ‘That girl is wearing a necklace. ... Oh wait. Isn't that the same person?" Paiste went on, explaining, "I wanted to make people have to think about gender issues and how we are always gendering the bodies around us."

While I thought this piece was a basic portrait at first glance, I found that it had a lot more depth and ambiguity after further examination. The piece that Paiste displayed in the show is only part of a larger series. "This piece was the inspiration behind the project in which I took hundreds of photographs of seven different models, gendering each of their bodies using men's and women's accessories," said Paiste.

Another student artist whose work was displayed in the show, A. Eli Tukachinsky '11, talked a little about his piece, "Emily." Tukachinsky explained that his painting "sums up some tricky paradigms that first-generation immigrant children face in the U.S.: attachment to parents, yet living independently, living in one close apartment with all your belongings, taking the traditionally male position of breadwinning." Tukachinsky continued to say, "The confining space may be just as important as the sitter [Emily] in defining the woman's role in immigrating to a U.S. city and distancing herself from her heritage. These common conceptions surfaced during weekly focus group sessions among Russian Jews on campus, and the model is a good friend of mine." Tukachinsky's piece focused on one girl's story and put in a real, historical context, making it personal and relevant.

Ultimately, students displayed works that were both eye-catching and thought-provoking. I enjoyed seeing such diversity in the pieces. The "Floors and Ceilings" theme took on so many different forms. I came out of the show ruminating on what I had just seen. I gained new perspectives on how gender identity corresponds to one's environment.

L'Heureux emphasized that "Floors and Ceilings" is different from other shows in the past because, "This is the first time this center has shown student work." The Women's Studies Research Center will be hosting four more shows this year. Coming up soon is "Embodied" by painter Laurie Kaplowitz and sculptor Stacy Latt Savage from Oct. 11 to Dec. 20.