There’s a gentle glare on the walls of the Museum of Arts and Design’s open and airy second floor. The colored “reflections” across the white gallery are reminiscent of the glow emitted by screens, or maybe Lucite. Slightly distorting mirrored surfaces, inset with clusters of art, dare visitors not to snap a photo. And that can’t be accidental; this is the backdrop for Non-Stick Nostalgia: Y2K Retrofuturism in Contemporary Jewelry, which features 29 jewelry artists and designers, mostly under the age of 35.

Placed firmly in the creative chaos of a generation born with the Internet — and very aware they’re being viewed — the show is eclectic, to say the least, reflecting how young people around the world responded to an onslaught of imagery and an obsessive drive to overshare, and how this has been expressed in the very personal medium of jewelry.

There’s plenty of the namesake nostalgia, like a set of earrings made from holographic glass reminiscent of POGs, as well as more traditional-looking pieces in silver and stainless steel.

However, some of the most affecting work is united by a self-consciousness not unique to this generation. There’s a video of Nhat-Vu Dang, who was born in the Netherlands to Vietnamese parents, smashing pieces of Dutch and Vietnamese ceramics together before using the shards for his jewelry. Ada Chen’s Text Message Earrings recreate, in dangling ovals of neon acrylic, actual conversations the San Francisco-born Chinese-American woman has had with men (sample quote: “Are you Asian or Chinese?”). Experimenting with and mixing new technologies and traditional materials, there is certainly playfulness on view, but overall one feels a sense of darkness and unease not unusual for early- and mid-career artists — and certainly not for the millenial set.

Non-Stick Nostalgia: Y2K Retrofuturism in Contemporary Jewelry is on view at the Museum of Arts and Design through July 21, 2019.