This thesis examines the ways in which collage is an ontologically transgender medium due to its freedom from traditional artistic formal and narrative structures. Considering that many trans experiences center around dichotomies, juxtaposition, and self-definition, collage is the best equipped to communicate these experiences in innovative ways. Through interrogations of feminized labor and the ways in which the art world upholds harmful gender binaries, as well as discussions of Femmage, maladjustment, and obsession, I argue that the fragmentary nature of photomontage, digital collage, and videomontage can externally express the multitude of feelings and identities contained within a body, to a greater extent than that of other forms of art.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis examines the ways in which collage is an ontologically transgender medium due to its freedom from traditional artistic formal and narrative structures. Considering that many trans experiences center around dichotomies, juxtaposition, and self-definition, collage is the best equipped to communicate these experiences in innovative ways. Through interrogations of feminized labor and the ways in which the art world upholds harmful gender binaries, as well as discussions of Femmage, maladjustment, and obsession, I argue that the fragmentary nature of photomontage, digital collage, and videomontage can externally express the multitude of feelings and identities contained within a body, to a greater extent than that of other forms of art.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wojtkowski, Czeslawa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Graduate School of Art","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Monika Weiss","Heather Bennett","Sage Dawson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-07T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-05-07T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:25Z","subjects":["Transgender","Collage","Femmage","Fiber Art","Femme","Feminist Theory","Trans Theory","Trans Women","Non-Binary","New Media","Art and Design","Fine Arts"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/31","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Monika Weiss","Heather Bennett","Sage Dawson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wojtkowski, Czeslawa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-05-10T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate School of Art"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Transgender","Collage","Femmage","Fiber Art","Femme","Feminist Theory","Trans Theory","Trans Women","Non-Binary","New Media","Art and Design","Fine Arts"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/31"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis examines the ways in which collage is an ontologically transgender medium due to its freedom from traditional artistic formal and narrative structures. Considering that many trans experiences center around dichotomies, juxtaposition, and self-definition, collage is the best equipped to communicate these experiences in innovative ways. Through interrogations of feminized labor and the ways in which the art world upholds harmful gender binaries, as well as discussions of Femmage, maladjustment, and obsession, I argue that the fragmentary nature of photomontage, digital collage, and videomontage can externally express the multitude of feelings and identities contained within a body, to a greater extent than that of other forms of art.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Hot Girls Don't Worry About Copyright: Trans/Formative Works and the Femmage Lifestyle"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Monika Weiss","Heather Bennett","Sage Dawson"],"dc:creator":["Wojtkowski, Czeslawa"],"dc:date.available":["2025-05-10T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis examines the ways in which collage is an ontologically transgender medium due to its freedom from traditional artistic formal and narrative structures. Considering that many trans experiences center around dichotomies, juxtaposition, and self-definition, collage is the best equipped to communicate these experiences in innovative ways. Through interrogations of feminized labor and the ways in which the art world upholds harmful gender binaries, as well as discussions of Femmage, maladjustment, and obsession, I argue that the fragmentary nature of photomontage, digital collage, and videomontage can externally express the multitude of feelings and identities contained within a body, to a greater extent than that of other forms of art.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_visual_art/31"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Transgender","Collage","Femmage","Fiber Art","Femme","Feminist Theory","Trans Theory","Trans Women","Non-Binary","New Media","Art and Design","Fine Arts"],"dc:title":["Hot Girls Don't Worry About Copyright: Trans/Formative Works and the Femmage Lifestyle"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate School of Art"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Art"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:25Z"}