The Creative Space Gallery on the Ithaca Commons has been taken over by B.F.A. candidates, senior Andrea Aguirre and junior Tatiana Malkin. Their completely student-led exhibition features self-directed work ranging from paintings, mixed media, prints and installation art.

The students began work on their self-curated exhibit in May and finalized everything Sept. 4. Through the Summer Scholars Program, a program through the School of Humanities and Sciences that allows students to work over the summer on a creative project of their choice, Malkin and Aguirre were able to dedicate the whole summer to their exhibits, working every day to set up the space and to continue working in the studio to perfect their pieces.

Malkin’s exhibit, “Growing Obsessions,” comments on contradictions in nature and its underlying structures. “Egoluxe,” which was curated by Aguirre, explores traces of life and light in a post-apocalyptic world. Some things that inspired her work are the AMC series “The Walking Dead” and the Max Brooks novel “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.”

“This gave me a great opportunity to learn how I worked and how to approach problems,” Aguirre said. “It was life–changing. It definitely helped with the course of my undergrad and future artistic career.”

Aguirre said one of the most challenging parts of the experience was trying to figure out which pieces to use and how to create a collective experience for the viewer. Splitting up the space was also a daunting task, considering the large body of work created by Malkin. Then, the two students had to figure out how to effectively work with the space they were given. The end goal was to make sure their shows were cohesive and worked well together, Aguirre said.

“Growing Obsessions” and “Egoluxe” will be featured in the Creative Space Gallery until Sept. 27.