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Why women are making nude casts of their bodies

From Cardi B to the Kardashians, women are stripping down for hyper-realist molds — especially while pregnant — and displaying the results in ways both private and public.

By Mark Ellwood

May 23, 2024 at 8:11 a.m. EDT

A torso cast from Misha Japanwala’s solo exhibition, "Beghairati Ki Nishaani: Traces of Shamelessness," previously presented at the Hannah Traore Gallery in New York. The moldings were photographed on the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. (Aleena Naqvi)

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When management consultant Nomfundo Magudulela is leaving her home in Toronto, she is likely to smile slightly as she grabs a pair of sunglasses and some lip balm from the golden bowl in her foyer. It’s not quite what it seems: no ordinary bowl, but rather one made from a cast of her belly, when she was heavily pregnant with her now-toddler daughter, Liyana.

“I know it’s my belly, and my husband knows, but a guest walking in the door doesn’t — and I like that,” she says. “I wanted it to be a gorgeous object.” The 35-year-old took an impression of her stomach at home using a plaster strip kit before shipping the results to Ontario-based bellycaster Dana Cote to create the final product. “It was a long journey for me to get pregnant, and it’s something to remember that — a constant reminder,” she says of the $450 sculpture.