A rtist Nancy Worden calls her extraordinary new body of jewelry Fear Factor because she describes the work as “an exploration of psychological or self-imposed limitations that I have observed from my own life and the lives of others.” In her artist statement for her recent exhibition at the Traver Gallery-Tacoma, she writes that the big, skillfully crafted, imposing neckpieces are her way of pressing through such psychological and emotional minefields as the fear of intimacy, the fear of change and the fear of conflict.

Personally, I would call the jewelry armor for women warriors. The neckpieces—six are neckpieces and one is a bracelet-and-neck-chain ensemble—are defensive and sometimes offensive shields for female heroes ranging from ancient goddesses—one piece is dedicated to Ishtar, the Sumerian Goddess of War—to Worden’s late grandmother, a hard-working, working-class woman whose curiosity and spirit inspired her to travel the world alone at a time when married women did not leave town without their husbands. Like nearly all of Worden’s work over the years, these pieces are infused with pointed commentary on the political scene, the culture wars and gender politics.

A couple of the neckpieces are made of layers of metal so solid that they could literally protect the wearer’s throat from physical assault. Brigandine For Ishtar, the mostly blatantly beautiful piece, is also the most literal. Worden explains that a brigandine was a riveted metal undershirt worn by European soldiers in the Middle Ages to protect against swords and arrows. In her notes for the show she says she made Brigandine for Ishtar in 2005 as Americans started hearing the disturbing news that our soldiers in Iraq were being forced to fortify their own armor with scrap metal because of the inadequate armor provided by the United States military.

Worden says much of the metal she used in the piece was found on the street, which is remarkable considering Brigandine’s dazzling stylishness. It is a copper-colored work made with sheets of thin, nearly textile-like copper mesh fortified with dozens of smaller bits of metal, including many copper pennies. You can easily imagine it worn by an Amazon-sized model stalking down a runway in Milan. Fashion is not Worden’s goal, however. Worden, whose art is supported by her considerable skill at expressing herself with words, wrote this about Brigandine For Ishtar: “My generation is the first to send their daughters as well as their sons to war, so I felt it necessary to make armor for a female warrior.”

Other pieces in Fear Factor are symbolically protective because they are made with found objects—old-fashioned wooden clothespins and men’s shaving brushes, for example—rich with metaphorical significance. Thanks to Worden’s design alchemy, the clothespins, shaving brushes, old coins, bits of animal bone, and cast-off typewriter parts become amulets. The necklace Fortitude, the one inspired by Worden’s grandmother, includes a well-used oven thermometer. Worden set the stained, disc-shaped face of the thermometer in copper, as if it was a jewel in a bezel, and attached it to the back of a necklace as part of the clasp. Worden writes that the thermometer is an homage to all the women in her family, who “could take the heat no matter how hot it got.” The necklace includes luggage-tag sized flat charms made from pages of her grandmother’s diaries preserved behind thin, transparent resins. Foreign coins are riveted all over the necklace. In the way that women used to collect bracelet charms as souvenirs of their travels, this necklace is made of the charms that marked a life of work and adventure.

The most aggressive piece is Literal Defense. Made of aluminum, copper, brass, plastic, glass, leather, and gold leaf, it is a powerful-looking collar for a female champion. You cannot look at its plates of aluminum studded with red plastic “jewels” without thinking of the elaborate armor worn by Italian nobility during the Renaissance. Though the red jewels appear to be bits of red plastic from kid’s bicycle reflectors, they are striking against the gleaming aluminum. Even more intriguing are the glass taxidermy eyeballs set into IBM Selectric typewriter balls that have been cut in half, like perfectly cracked eggshells. Worden has a fondness for taxidermy eyeballs and Selectric typewriter balls and has used them both before. The glass eyeballs suggest the magical connotations of a third eye warding off evil or gathering in wisdom.

Like all the others, Literal Defense comes with a message. Worden writes: “I made this piece to be worn by those of us who are soldiers in the battlefield of arts education. Every single day we have to fight for the arts to even exist in K-12 curriculum…We who teach the arts know that the arts teach you to think and that self-expression is an essential part of being a well-rounded human.” She goes on to note that the piece is inscribed all over with quotes from contemporary arts advocates and from the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote glowingly about the Muses, the Roman goddesses of the arts.

A couple of the neckpieces have the look of African ceremonial wear and this is intentional. N’Kondi Collar is a reference to the N’Kondi sculptures made by the Kongo people of Central Africa. N’kondi figures are used to promote healing and cooperation within a community. Since the sculptures are always male, Worden used male-oriented found objects. Shaving brushes are strung like amulets and at the front of the neckpiece are the two smooth halves of a man’s shoetree. The pieces look like polished, wooden bananas. The phallic imagery is impossible to miss. Witty and surprising, N’Kondi Collar also is a reminder that overtly sexual, earthy imagery is an intrinsic aspect of spirituality in many cultures.

Less successful is a piece consisting of a chain necklace designed to attach to two large silver bracelets. Called The Shackles of Fear: Fear of Change, the piece is displayed with its formidable-looking chain attached to the wide cuffs, which are adorned with zippers and python skin. Given its glamorous nastiness, the jewelry could be the accessories from an edgy fashion layout. The shackles might also be read as political commentary on torture and abuse at places such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. References to physical bondage do not seem to be what Worden is aiming for, however. She writes that The Shackles of Fear is about transition and change. The idea is for the wearer to project personal inhibitions onto the jewelry “then physically experience the relief that comes with taking that burden off,” she writes. Perhaps it is the idea that jewelry is designed to be removed rather than worn that is hard to understand if you are someone who loves jewelry and ornament.

Finally, a note about the admirable installation. All the pieces are displayed on custom-made stands, and each piece is for sale with its stand. As more jewelry artists create pieces that—for whatever reasons—may only occasionally be worn, artists such as Worden are smart to include stands for display. Though we can hope that Literal Defense will be worn publicly everyday by some Wonder Woman of the Arts, it is reassuring to know that it will not be relegated to a drawer. Our culture needs to hear its message.

Traver Gallery is located at 1821 East Dock Street, #100, Tacoma, Washington; 253.383.3685. www.travergallery.com