Artist Talk: Emily’s Sassy Lime (Emily Ryan, Wendy Yao, Amy Yao) and Kathleen Hanna

Formed by Emily Ryan and sisters Wendy and Amy Yao, who met as teens in Irvine, California, Emily’s Sassy Lime (1993–2001) was a garage-punk rock band. Considered an essential part of the early riot grrrl movement, their scrappy punk sensibility and creative resourcefulness, primarily developed during their high school years, embodies the tumult of adolescence. Currently featured in the 2025 California Biennial: Desperate, Scared, But Social, their installation presents ephemera from their shared youth—posters, photographs, zines, letters, and video footage of their performances—alongside works from their individual practices in drawing, sculpture, and social space.

Kathleen Hanna is an artist, activist, musician, and punk pioneer who became a defining voice of the riot grrrl movement in the 1990s. As a frontwoman of the punk band Bikini Kill, Hanna challenged sexism in the typical male-dominated punk space through her unapologetic lyrics and performances. Bikini Kill’s music spoke directly to the furor of adolescence, transforming teenage angst and alienation into a call of empowerment and solidarity.

Join Emily Ryan, Amy Yao, and Wendy Yao in conversation with Kathleen Hanna as they discuss the creative basis of adolescence, what it takes to build and create community, and their own individual creative practices.