For decades, Cynthia Plaster Caster tracked down legendary rock stars and made plaster molds of their penises.
Scott Gries/Getty ImagesCynthia Albritton, better known as Cynthia Plaster Caster, made a career out of penis molds.
When it comes to groupies, there’s no doubt that rock bands have some of the craziest. Some collect autographs, some collect t-shirts, some even collect locks of hair and used tissues.
And then, there’s Cynthia Albritton, known now as Cynthia Plaster Caster, who collects a somewhat different kind of keepsake: plaster molds of famous rock and roll penises. Since 1968, Cynthia has cast over 48 famous rock singers’, guitar players’, and managers’ penises.
Why? Well, it’s the same reason anyone collects anything: love.
A College Assignment Inspires A Unique Art Collection
Albritton’s decades-long project first started in Chicago while she was attending art school, when a teacher challenged the students to make a plaster cast of “something solid that could retain its shape.”
Wanting to do something different from her peers, she turned to her love of rock music for inspiration.
Since she was a child, Albritton had been obsessed with rock music. Then, when she became a teenager, she became obsessed with the “gorgeous men who made the awesome music” she loved. So, she started going to shows and afterparties waiting for someone to notice her.
However, she quickly found that there was a lot of competition at the afterparties. To her dismay, it turned out she wasn’t the only young woman trying to make her way back to a rock star’s hotel room. That’s when she decided to find something that would put her ahead of all the rest of those women.
Cynthia Plaster Caster/FacebookAlbritton and her partner Dianne.
The night after she’d been given her assignment, she attended a Paul Revere and the Raiders concert. At the after-party, she marched right up to the lead singer and guitarist, and, as she put it, asked if she could “cast their solid somethings.”
Though she never got to cast Paul Revere or any of the Raiders, she managed to make the impression she’d been hoping for. Word spread in the rock community about the groupie and her unusual art venture, and soon she had a taker.
In 1968, Jimi Hendrix came to Chicago. After practicing her casting techniques — a simple process that involved dipping one’s “solid something” into a martini shaker filled with dental-mold gel — on two of her friends, she was finally ready.
How Cynthia Albritton Became Cynthia Plaster Caster
Much to her surprise, Hendrix agreed and became the first rock star to sit for Cynthia Plaster Caster. Even decades — and many molds — later, Albritton said Hendrix was her favorite musician to cast.
“He was really laid back, relaxed, very quiet in the mold,” she said, despite the fact that “his pubes got stuck.”
After Hendrix got his cast, the trend took off, and Albritton had men from all over the rock world begging for a cast of their own. Artists like Jello Biafra, Chris Connelly, Wayne Kramer, and Jon Langford all asked to model for Albritton over the years.
dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock PhotoJimi Hendrix’s penis cast on display in 2015.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. As Albritton once described it, the Monkees’ Peter Tork, for example, “didn’t get a chance to penetrate the mold,” so his cast turned out a bit unflattering. A similar tragedy played out with MC5’s Wayne Kramer, who was met with a premature plaster mix that had, as Albritton put it, “set before he could push his dick all the way into the mold — only the head got in.”
Then one day, Frank Zappa reached out to her. Though he had no interest in being cast himself, he saw the commercial value in the casts and invited Cynthia Plaster Caster to Los Angeles to set up an exhibition.
“I appreciate what they’re doing, both artistically and sociologically,” Zappa said, referring to Albritton and a partner she was working with at the time named Dianne. “Sociologically, it’s really heavy. I’m their advisor to see that they’re not mistreated.”
Unfortunately, the grand exhibition Zappa had hoped for never happened. As it turned out, there was a decline in the number of rock musicians who wanted to go to the effort it took to immortalize their penises in plaster if they couldn’t keep the results.
Albritton was also fairly picky about the musicians she would cast — they didn’t all make the cut.
Not Everyone Viewed Albritton’s Casts As Art
Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty ImagesAlbritton making a cast of the singer Jake Shillingford.
Albritton didn’t sleep with every musician she made a cast of, but she did gift casts to the ones she did sleep with, calling the casts “the world’s best groupie souvenir.”
But Albritton also had integrity as an artist. As her friend and former manager Mitch Marlow told Rolling Stone, “She would never cast somebody for commission just because they wanted it. She wouldn’t even sell to people that she didn’t like, even if she needed the money.”
Which is why, despite writing a song about her called “Caster Plaster,” Albritton refused to make casts for KISS.
Still, her commitment to the purity of her art didn’t make everyone see it as art. In the 2001 documentary Plaster Caster, writer Camille Paglia said that feminists of Albritton’s time saw her work and “assumed it was degrading.” Led Zeppelin reportedly tossed her into a pool fully clothed once.
But as time went on, and hindsight developed, a new appreciation for what Albritton had done emerged.
Cynthia Plaster Caster’s Death And Legacy
By the end of it all, Cynthia Plaster Caster was left with 48 plaster penises, and she gained a reputation as one of rock music’s most legendary groupies.
In 2000, she was able to exhibit her masterpieces at a show in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, and then again in 2017 at the famous MoMA PS1 in Queens. She also started selling reproductions of the plaster penises, using the original molds, as well as offering commissioned pieces for a small fee.
dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock PhotoCynthia Plaster Caster holding a huge inflatable penis.
She began casting women’s breasts as well, in 2000, though the number of female casts she made is much smaller than the males.
In 2010, Albritton ran for mayor of Chicago as a candidate for what she called the “Hard Party,” and five years later her show Penis Dimension exhibited alongside the Zappanale music festival. She had also been the subject of several documentaries, and gained rather widespread recognition for art she made beyond her casts.
Cynthia Plaster Caster died on April 21, 2022, from cerebral vascular disease and added complications with neuropathy. She was 74 years old.
“She’s a true American artist,” reflected Sally Timms of the Mekons.
“She chose a very unusual path. And then as a person, she was just such a sweet, gentle person… She’s a total one off, and there won’t be any more Cynthias.”
After learning about Cynthia Plaster Caster, check out these rock songs that are actually surprisingly dirty. Then, read about the Swedish park that found a giant wooden penis on their grounds.
