About

Feminizing objects and perceptions

Woman Create [ real name: Marika Callangan ] is a visual artist based in Metro Manila, Philippines, who explores how images can be feminized to reclaim perceptions of the female form, femininity, and female rage. 

Her vibrant works, which shift between the digital and the analog, often take form in collages and found objects that are further expanded through materials from feminine traditions such as sewing, embroidery, beadwork, and appliquéing. Considered as “femmages” or feminist collages, a term coined by Miriam Shapiro, her collaged forms expand from manipulated textiles, mirror installations, Barbie sculptures, collage tapestries, installation, and video –all with intent to interrogate images of women in visual culture, challenging their construction as subjects of the male gaze. Her practice extends across disciplines—including digital art, design, jewelry-making, and printed publications—as part of her ongoing exploration of image production and meaning-making.

Rooted in personal experiences, her playful approach to sexualized imagery appropriates the dominant language of femininity and recontextualizes this visual language through a feminist lens that reflects the complexities of women's lived experiences, including her own. In feminizing visual forms from the immense to the most intimate, she challenges the dichotomies found within gendered power structures and opens space for re-imagining women's autonomy and emancipation. 

Currently, she is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. In 2023, she held her first solo exhibition at ANIMA Art Space and has since participated in numerous group exhibitions, including shows at Parola–UP Fine Arts Gallery, 98B Collaboratory, Cartellino Gallery, Everything’s Fine PH, and Art in the Park PH. During the pandemic (2020–2021), she also took part in several online exhibitions hosted by ArtDrop.PH and Arts Talks PH. In 2024, she expanded her practice internationally as an exhibitor at the Taipei Art Book Fair, her first international art convention.

She is a member of local artist collectives, specificically, Manila Collage Collective and Metro Montage PH. Some of her notable partnerships and brand collaborations include dm-drogerie-markt Germany, H&M Philippines, Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc., Booth & Partners Philippines, MONKI, and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and Malayang DIWA.

Engaged in feminist activism since 2015, she has initiated non-profit art events and campaigns that include art workshops, performances, and participatory discussions, offering women safe spaces for expression and contributing to the broader discourse on feminism and gender equity in the Philippines.