Chicago artist wants people to feast their eyes on her Crappy Cake Art

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago artist is having people hunt for her latest works of fake cakes across the city.

Crappy Cake Art has been spotted everywhere, from the CTA to the lakefront, and people are scouring the city for them as if they were edible.

Although the cakes are fake, their impact and popularity aren't.

Don't be fooled by the kitchen. Every cake, from the frosting to the cherries on top, is made to be admired and even related to, but not eaten.

"A lot of people think I came at it, like with the passion as a baker and then evolved. That is not how it happened," artist Anna Lasbury said.

"I came into it with the passion as an artist and exploring different materials, and I feel more comfortable making a fake cake on a canvas than I do actually baking a cake."

She said she's never made a real cake but can make a fake one. Lansbury has made over 150 cakes on canvas.

"They were piling up in my apartment because I was obsessed with it," she said.

She's either sold or given away most of them, some of which she has kept hanging like trophies across her apartment — each with its own colorful quip spelled out in acrylic-based frosting.

"These cakes are kind of like my diary. I write things on them that are actually going on in my life or that I feel like it's really important for people to hear," Lansbury said.

While they've recently grown in popularity, Lansbury says her first fake cake wasn't that good.

"I was like, this sucks. It's very crappy, but it has a lot of potential. So, I started making a couple more, and they got a little less crappy over time," she said.

Even with the improvements and all the orders coming in, crappy just stuck, and the name Crappy Cake Art was too good to let go.

However, the Easter egg hunt to find them sparked more interest. Lasbury hides the ones she doesn't sell in random locations across the city.

"It kind of came from a place of like, okay, I literally have nowhere else to put them, and when they're just hanging in your apartment, you know, nobody's really getting your message," she said.

Once they're out in the world, the cakes can, and do, end up anywhere.

"I still don't know where the first one ended up, you know?" Lasbury said.

Recording just the cake and her hand as they make their way to the next hiding spot, Lasbury's messages have been reaching millions of viewers across Instagram and TikTok, many of whom are gunning to get the next cake.

"My true goal is to spread this joy in Chicago right now; when people see cakes, they just experience joy, and so not only does someone get to see that, they actually get to take it home with them," she said.

"I think about, wow, these people are going outside, and they're looking like they're observing things that they've never seen in the city, and they're paying attention to the beauty looking for my cake?"

Anna's Crappy Cake Art can be found or bought from her Etsy shop. You can keep up with her and where the next cake is slated to end up on her Instagram or TikTok at Crappy Cake Art.