Text Message Earrings With Prong Settings: Artist Ada Chen Turns Asian Stereotypes Into Jewelry

Ada Chen’s jewelry is more than just wearable art: each piece also carries with it a statement, combatting (and disproving) the Asian American stereotypes she encounters. From satirizing the fetishization of Asian women to creating 3D earring copies of unfortunate text messages she’s received, Chen’s work is equal parts funny and powerful.

More: Ada Chen, Instagram

Ada Chen, a recent graduate of Pratt Institute’s Jewelry program, is an artist and jeweler who takes inspiration from memes on the internet and household objects. For now, she is learning the basics of the jewelry industry as a bench jeweler in NYC.

She is working towards further developing her voice as a Chinese American woman through jewelry and other media. She creates jewelry that engages more than people’s money by incorporating in her craft the much needed discussion of the Chinese and Asian American identities.