Yes, we’ve all lived through them, those awkward early-teenage years of braces, acne, and mood swings. While the change may be inescapable, loneliness certainly is not. Tackling this confusing time period in a young person’s life, the Orange County Museum of Art in California has opened its doors to the public for their biennial art festival, on view until January 4, 2026. Named Desperate, Scared, but Social, this year’s collection features everything from punk rock to embroidery, approaching adolescence from new perspectives.
Headlining the show are twelve talented artists along with two exhibitions curated by local high school and teen groups. Dating back to 1984, the biennial show continues to serve as a springboard for local contemporary artists. The takeaway from the exhibition, according to Courtenay Finn, Chief Curator & Director of Programs, is “the dynamism of adolescence was a lens through which our shared anxiety can be sublimated into joy, something we need now more than ever.”
The artists demonstrate the diversity of the showing, providing a snapshot of the energy and essence of youth, conveyed through many different media types. Artist Heesoo Kwon’s collection utilises Adobe Firefly, an AI program that creates and edits images, in her works to reflect on her childhood. Her pieces use the software to alter appearances in family pictures from her past, conveying the malleable nature of memory.
Griselda Rosas, an artist living on the US-Mexico border, has created her collection with the help of her son and embroidery learned from the women in her family tree. She conveys unique challenges living between two cultures and the ‘monsters’ it can create, with many of these ugly creatures pictured in her work.
Alternatively, the punk rock band Sassy Lime’s musicians Emily Ryan, Wendy Yao, and Amy Yao organised archive materials for their collection at the biennial. The band, active from 1993 to 2001, had to practice and perform in secret, as the women all came from Asian immigrant households. Their exhibition combines materials from the band, personal paraphernalia from adolescence, and artistic endeavours later in life for this one-on-a-kind installation.
The artists hosted at the event represent a small sliver of coming-of-age experiences, and the mix of art mediums and cultural upbringings help illuminate an introduction to the diversity that is adolescence.
