Metalsmith and jewelry designer Casey creates lewd “vending machine” items that include gas station “horny pills,” packaged faux-diamond engagement rings, and smutty sayings on drape pins. She says of her work, “Every piece I create has the voice of an angry teenager responding to trauma, fear, or frustration,” a strategy that allows her bright and bubbly designs to fly under the pain radar. “The sweeter these works seem (even if only on the surface), the more likely they are to be picked off of a shelf,” Casey explains. “Once they are in someone else’s hands, they are no longer my burden to carry.”
Playing with ideas of ephemerality and permanence, Casey uses a combination of plastic and steel to mimic the salacious items she sees around Philly. “The combination of easily weathered steel and plastic play a fun game, as one element will decompose around or inside of the other,” she remarks. Since her family was diagnosed with a rare, incurable neurodegenerative disease two years ago, Casey’s work has taken a darker tone, eager to shock with foul language and rusted metal.
