Slippery Rock University student Chelsey Wermer works on jewelry pieces depicting doughnuts and cupcakes, foods the gluten-intolerant college student can no longer eat.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Chelsey Werner, a senior at Slippery Rock University, cooks up delicious jewelry mixing her passion and artistic skills with a dash of medical motivation.

Werner, a former Adams Township resident, said the doughnut earrings and the cupcake swirl bracelet, just like every other piece in her collection, are representations of the foods she can no longer eat.

“I'm gluten intolerant,” she said.

Werner will display her collection of sweets-themed jewelry at an exhibition, “If You Can't Eat It, Wear It,” from 1 to 2 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays beginning Nov. 26 and running to Dec. 6 at the Student Government Association Student Art Gallery in Room 204 in the student union on the SRU campus.

The exhibition has a grand opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 28. The public reception is free, and light beverages will be offered alongside gluten-free food.

Werner said metalsmithing has allowed her to express her frustration in a fun way while drawing on good memories of a time when eating a doughnut didn't make her feel sick.

“I missed a lot of these things, like especially doughnuts and cupcakes and toast,” she said. “Me being able to represent those in a beautiful and classy way is really a way to reclaim those types of sensations that I used to have before.”

Read more in the Butler Eagle.

Chelsey Werner readies some of her pieces for her upcoming exhibition. “I focus on things people can actually wear. I like the engaging quality of wearable art,” she said.