Mary Tuma
Mary Tuma is a Palestinian-Irish-American visual artist working primarily in the medium of fibers. Her work investigates issues of identity through the subject of Palestine, the body, spirit and place. Her use of fabric and other fiber-based materials references women’s traditional work and voice, women’s bodies and memory. She works sculpturally as well as in installation form, and works on paper.
Tuma has shown her work in the United States, Palestine, South Korea, Greece, Canada, Lebanon, Turkey, Kuwait, Italy, Japan, and Qatar. Her work is in collections at the Arab American National Museum, Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait, the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, The Museum of Civilizations in Rome as well as in private collections.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Costume and Textile Design from the University of California, Davis, and an MFA in Fine Art from the University of Arizona. She taught art for almost 30 years, mostly at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where she led the fibers program. Tuma is now a full-time artist.
