“I, too, overflow; my desires have invented

new desires, my body knows unheard-of
" 
songs.”

  "
-Hélène Cixous

The trouble began when I was twelve years old, flipping
feverishly through images of runway models, luxury brand
advertisements and glossy editorials. I didn’t know it then,
but these photographs would profoundly affect my future
relationship with my body. In fact, when I look at my history of
dysmorphia, anorexia and low self-esteem, the blueprint of
the “correct body” seems to stem back to those same photo-
graphs of emaciated models. It wasn’t until years of therapy
did I finally realize some hard truths about women, clothes
and bodies.

My whole life, I believed women were supposed to be rough,
sharp-edged, sunken and pointed. I thought that if I did not have
that body, I was not “being a woman correctly”. This, of course, is
far from true. Being a woman is a beautiful, terrifying, all-encom-
passing thing. A woman cannot stay static in one body, trapped
like a bird in a cage; her body is something beyond. To be a
woman, one does not have to be sharp. Women can be soft and
rounded, squared and sturdy, small or large, flat chested, hairy,
curvy, lumpy, scarred, disabled, skinny, fat. No specific characteris-
tic, including genetalia, defines our womanhood.

Some days this is still a hard concept for me to swallow, as I’ve

lived so long accepting the Instagram-Vogue-Patriarchy body
standards as truth. However, I am privileged enough that my
body fits conventional standards of what is “attractive” and
“right”, so most of the desperate urging to shrink myself has
been wholly intrinsic. Many other women do not have this luxu-
ry. They not only must deal with their own body hatred, but with
a society, too, that perpetuates and validates this body hatred.

In the wake of this mess, clothes can be a solace or a burden.

Clothes are a form of communication, expression, and adorn-
ment for the body; they can be so crucial to feeling good about
oneself and one’s body. Personally, I use clothes as an exercise
in self-acceptance and rebellion. My favorite types of clothes do
not fit the conventional standards for “sexy” or “attractive”. I feel
most beautiful in clothes that warp or hide my form, removing
the emphasis on the seemingly all-important thighs/stomach/
ass/tits (supposedly the most characteristic parts of a “woman”)
and render me infinite—otherworldly—formless.

This has been on my mind constantly. I wrote a brief blog post

about silhouette in June, but I have since decided to expand on
these ideas and create this zine.

In this zine, you’ll find a collection of visual art, fashion, and inspi-
ration exclusively by women artists relating to the female body
and form. All artists have been credited, and I strongly encour-
age further outside exploration of their work.
 I
L i v i n g
Within the Form

We women have been made hyperaware of our bodies

and forms for centuries. We are constantly objectified
and sexualized, resulting in a struggle within our own
bodies, feeling completely defined by our forms or even
trapped inside of them. The following collection of art
by women chronicles this body obsession—whether it be
obsession with the “right” type of body, what we do with
our bodies, stereotypes (especially concerning the bod-
ies of women of color), or simply an obsession with the
traditional female form.
Louise Bourgeois
Heliga Sébastienne, 1998
Zoe Buckman
bitches i like them, 2016
Céline Spring/Summer 2017
Senga Nengudi
RSVP Reverie Pink, 2011
Carolee Schneemann
Interior Scroll, 1975,
Frida Khalo
Frida and the Cesarean, 1931
Clothilde du Mur
Eclipse de Lune Rouge, 2018
Alejandra Smits and Paloma Wool
on getting dressed, 2017
Mickalene Thomas
Marie With Four Legs, 2014
Tracey Emin
It’s All Do To My Tits, 2014
Kathleen Hanna
Alison Saar
Cotton Eater, edition 1/6, 2014
Kaitlynn Lucas,
Untitled (Existence/Resistance), 2017
 II
Celebration
of the Form

The reclaiming of our own bodies and forms is a vital

step in the process of self-acceptace. For thousands of
years, the female form has been objectified by male art-
ists in the name of “celebration of female form”. How-
ever, there is no art concerning women’s bodies more
powerful than a celebration of form that stems directly
from ourselves. The rejection of the male gaze and male
preferences leads to a pure, beautiful celebration of true
womenhood. The following art by exclusively female art-
ists, celebrating the divine female form.
Antonina Zharko
Torraine Futurum for Office, 2018
Mayan Toledano
Lulu Bonfils for Teen Vogue, 2016
Elizabeth Catlett
Ife, 2002
Amrita Sher-Gil
Nude Study (6), 1931
Beyonce, 2017
Judy Chicago
Study for Virginia Woolf from
“The Dinner Party” , 1978
Zackary Drucker
5 East 73rd Street, 2005-2007
MwangiHutter (Ingrid Mwangi and Robert Hutter)
Shades of Skin, 2001
Helen Frankenthaler
Trojan Gates. 1955
Alina Szapocznikow
Femme illuminée. 1966–67
Carlota Guerrero
Lovisa Lager and Alva Claire for Allure, 2018
Ruff Tung Fall/Winter 2017
Frida Kahlo
Nude of Eva Frederick, 1931
 III
R e j e c t i o n
of the Form

For some women, the embrace of their own unique

form is most empowering. For others, it is the complete
rejection of form that fulfills them—because, of course,
our rebellion against the patriarchy can be by any meth-
od we choose. This last selection of art is an expression
of formlessness by women, crafting the female form and
embracing the otherworldly, bodylessness, and form-
lessness.
Ana Mendieta
Untitled (Glass on Body Imprints), 1972
Louise Bourgeois
Avenza, 1968–69
Francesca Woodman
Space 2, 1976
Rei Kawakubo
Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body
Spring Summer 1997
Sarah Lucas
NUD CYCLADIC 7, 2011
Alice Trumbull Mason
Interference of Closed Forms, 1945
Vaginal Davis
Proper Butch Goddess Freya, 2015
B. Ingrid Olson
Mutter: skeleton of the house under construction.
2017
Molly Goddard Resort 2018
Tanya and Zhenya Posternak for Jil Sander 2018
Ana Kraš
Mothers With Spoons, 2014
Iris van Herpen Haute Couture Fall Winter 2018
Lucia Vinti
Continuous Line Life Drawing, 2018
Thank you to all of the artists who al-
lowed me to use thier work for this zine, along
with all of the artists & women who have impact-
ed my life. You give voice to so many powerful
emotions and dynamics that I often struggle to
express, and I’ll always be grateful for that.

Also thank you to my friends who helped me edit

this zine, namely Alice Welna, Zahra Bhoy and
Clothilde du Mur.