Works About the Body

Mary Tuma's earliest works focused on the ways women in the United States are taught to self-evaluate and judge their bodies.
Pinch an Inch refers to the notion that if you can pinch an inch on your side, you are too fat. The use of fabric as flesh and clothes pins for pinching reference a connection to sadomasochistic practice, self-torture and even a denial of the flesh.

Disfigurement Gauge is constructed from a fun-house mirror and a collection of old weight scales. The weight gauges are set to the artist's weight such that the weight matches the image reflected in the mirror. If the artist appears fat, the weight scale is at it's highest possible weight. If the artist disappears in the mirror, the weight scale moves to "0".