"Going Up a Floor": An Intimate Journey Into 37 Women’s Creative Universes
- Caroline Haïat
- Sep 11
- 6 min read
37 Women, 37 Worlds Unveiled in One Captivating Exhibition That Leaves No One Indifferent. Revital Ben-Asher Peretz, artistic advisor to the Mayor of Tel Aviv, presents “Going Up a Floor”, an exhibition at the Tel Aviv Artists’ House. Opening on September 15 at 8 p.m. at 9 Alharizi Street, this cultural event brings together artists from diverse backgrounds and is the culmination of two years of dedicated work at Revital’s studio, founded in 2008. This nurturing space offers curatorial guidance in shaping a personal artistic language. Over the years, Revital’s studio has hosted hundreds of artists; once nestled in a dark attic, it has transformed into a haven of creativity and reflection, built on knowledge-sharing and human as well as professional dialogue that fosters artistic growth.
In this unique exhibition, visitors will encounter videos, prints, photographs, embroidery, collages, reliefs, casts, and sculptures, alongside drawings and paintings in acrylic, oil, and ink. These works are displayed on both traditional and unconventional supports such as bubble wrap, polystyrene, and found objects. The result is an original and surprising concept intended to uplift the Israeli public, currently overwhelmed by a complex reality.
“Half of the women participating in this exhibition have joined our artistic family for the first time. Every two years, I curate an event of this kind. Several artists have been with us since the beginning. It is a very intimate and intense process. It means integrating 37 lives into my own and accompanying them throughout their creation. I take this role very seriously!” says Revital Ben-Asher Peretz.
The works respond to time and place, to personal and collective traumas, and to the ongoing upheavals that define our era. Some women draw inspiration from Israeli landscapes, from war, local agriculture, and a profound connection to the land, while others seek refuge in imagined and distant natures. Questions of personal identity, body, gender, rituals, family, and intergenerational ties emerge from these creations, weaving a rich tapestry of multiple voices.
The uniqueness of “Going Up a Floor” lies in its diversity, but also in the coherence that emerges from the mutual enrichment within this shared creative space. The works aspire to meet the “law of three,” formulated as an artistic standard: to delight the eye through beauty, composition, colors, and form; to touch the heart by provoking emotional responses; and to stimulate the mind by sparking curiosity, questions, and reflection.
Contrasting worlds coexisting
“We work in small groups, the women exchange a lot with one another while also preserving solitary moments that are essential to creation. The artists have different paths: some began their artistic journey after retirement, while others have more extensive experience. But all of them share a profound need to express themselves through art, and here, we provide the space for them to do so in the best way possible,” Revital explains.
The title “Going Up a Floor” refers to the staircase of the studio that the women climb several times a week to reach the rooftop. The path is “uneven,” the steps “a little broken,” but at the top lies a magic place holding their fears, anxieties, and questions. The phrase also symbolizes a constant desire to rise and improve.
“The war we’ve been living through since October 7 has deeply impacted the works. Some of the women artists even express nostalgia for the Israel that once was — an Israel they know they will never see again. Others prefer to depict imagined landscapes as a means of escape,” notes Revital.
Riva Zohar creates landscapes balanced between reality and imagination, dominated by trees. There are no figures or narrative scenes in her work. Instead, fragments emerge — shards of wood, broken branches, silence, suspended time, lost memory. Each drawing, in a quasi-topographical form, presents raw or worked wooden elements, hanging in space.
“I use material to create tension between what is seen and what is felt. The works appear as scorched relics, abandoned presences in darkness, isolated within a vast void. The trees I depict are not fixed physical structures. They are living bodies, carrying countless biological functions, bearing witness to a vision of nature where fragility and erasure are inscribed from the outset. This is the inner landscape I explore: a space saturated with absences, where emotions fade or shift beyond the visible field. They are places of transformation, testimony, and silence,” explains Riva Zohar to Itonnews.
Medical practice at the service of art
In a completely different vein, Raheli Gabriel explores gynecology, fertility treatments, and women’s relationship to their bodies, drawing from her own experiences and research. Working mainly with precise acrylic techniques, she creates minimalist, almost surgical compositions. Her works depict antique medical instruments, delicate and complex devices, and biomedical elements that suggest the manipulation, fragmentation, and reconditioning of the female body for clinical purposes.
“I became interested in gynecological exams, which can be uncomfortable or even traumatic. Most of the time, we feel uneasy on the chair, in a position that is anything but flattering. I explore women’s experiences in the field of gynecology — often complex and intimate, blending pain, vulnerability, diagnosis, and loss of control. I experiment with different materials and structures, inspired by the medical tools used in these procedures,” Raheli explains.
Here, language itself becomes a tool to deconstruct, connect, or reverse narratives linked to gynecological experiences, prompting reflection on medical authority and the bodily sensations shaped by it.
Michal Ben Lulu, from Beit Shemesh, dares to bring a feminine perspective into a male-dominated religious world. Through her highly original watercolors, she addresses questions of faith and the way God sends us things in His own time. Michal also paints on parchment, using techniques including ink, watercolor, charcoal, colored pencil, and engraving.
“I am fascinated by the bond between material and storytelling. I tell modern stories through parchment, which allows me to transmit deep emotions. The body becomes a medium in the creation of my inner world. My works are influenced by my feminine perspective, by a quest for understanding, and by the connection I weave between art and spiritual effort. At the heart of it all lies the desire to capture the eternity of the people of Israel in the smallest gestures of everyday life,” Michal says.
Creating to overcome cruelty
While October 7, 2023, marked the Israeli population as a whole, it also profoundly shaped the creativity of many artists, who release pain through their works — pain intertwined with a nation’s instinct for survival. Ruti Sofer dedicated her paintings to Kibbutz Be’eri, which suffered immense loss with dozens of homes burned by Hamas and over a hundred lives taken.
Ruti transformed horror into wonder. Her three large acrylic paintings pay tribute to the kibbutz. Each canvas questions her, pushing her to confront essential dilemmas. The work comes alive through the dialogue between Ruti the woman and Ruti the artist.
“I set in motion the dark side of grief, loss, and destruction, against the hope of a better future. I played with contrasts and contradictions — the same ones Israelis face daily. Extremes coexist within me: color and fracture, the light of hope and deep melancholy. Between shadow and brilliance, fragmentation and silence, I seek to draw an empty yet charged space, a place of potential,” affirms Ruti.
Finally, Michal Mayo presents a multimedia work — sculpture, video, and photography — in which she stages herself. In one striking image, she lies down upon a representation of herself embracing the earth, creating a mise en abyme.
“My work revolves around stylized sculptures and videos created alongside my photographic projects. I investigate emotions through photography to show how the soul travels through time. My photos and videos bear witness to my inner world, allowing me to reveal various facets of myself and bring them into the light. I photograph myself from ten years ago and, through video, create a dialogue with my present self. It is an inner movement between my different selves,” she explains.
In this process, she focuses on the spaces between sculptural forms, exploring broader emotional dimensions and listening beneath the surface to silent voices. Michal works with three types of sculptures, photographing them as living matter. Body, earth, roots, straw — all transmit tensions between the organic and the synthetic, the imagined and the real, marble and flesh.
“Every time, I am moved by how we continue to create and bring culture to the forefront despite war and hardship, with all the challenges this entails. Reality tests us, but we persist, because art is redemptive. It is the best answer to the obstacles that darken our lives. This outlet proves that existence is stronger than anything,” concludes Revital.
At a time when daily reality puts creativity to the test, this exhibition reminds us with certainty that art remains a space of resistance, sharing, and elevation — one step closer to the light, despite the broken stairs.
The exhibition runs until September 20 at 9 Alharizi Street, Tel Aviv.
On September 18 and 20, guided tours will be offered between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Caroline Haïat
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