THEYFRIEND

2021

November 18 & 19, 2021
7pm — Brava Cabaret

Hosted by Kevin Seaman
Featuring multidisciplinary artist Edgar Fabián Frías, drag king LOTUS BOY, and musician Peekaboo aka transcriptions01 with special appearances from Cassils, Billy Dean Thomas, Dorian Wood, Kanyon Sayers-Roods, KB Boyce, and Stuart Getty!

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THEYFRIEND 2021!

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2021 Featured Artists

This year, community advisors Dorian Wood, KB Boyce, and Diamond Wave Artistic Director Kevin Seaman received 16 applications for participation and selected three artists to receive $1,000 to create new work for THEYFRIEND.

Edgar directly faces the viewer, holding a yellow candle in their right hand and a smoking bundle wrapped in red string in their left. The main background is an image of space with a moon and two blue bucks collaged behind Edgar’s head.

Edgar Fabián Frías

Edgar Fabián Frías is a nonbinary, queer, indigenous (Wixárika), and Latinx, multidisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and psychotherapist. They work in photography, video art, sound, sculpture, printed textiles, GIFs, performance, social practice, and community organizing, among other forms. Born in East Los Angeles in 1983, Frías received dual BA degrees in Psychology and Studio Art from the UC, Riverside. In 2013, they received an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, with an emphasis on Interpersonal Neurobiology and Somatic Psychotherapy. Frías is a 2022 candidate for an MFA in Art Practice at UC Berkeley.
They are also a recipient of the 2021 Summer Research Fellowship, the Sayavong Award, and the LGBTQ+ Fellowship Cluster Award at UC Berkeley, the 2019 and 2020 Tulsa Artist Fellowship, a 2019-2020 Public Research Fellow through the Oklahoma Center for Humanities, and a 2017-2018 Artist in Residence Grant through the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Cultural Affairs. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including the Vincent Price Art Museum, SOMArts, Oregon Contemporary, MOCA Jacksonville, Performance is Alive, Project Space Festival Juárez, and ArtBo, among others. Their work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Taschen, Bustle, Mashable, Slate, CVLT Nation, Terremoto, Hyperallergic, and other publications.
Edgar directly faces the viewer, holding a yellow candle in their right hand and a smoking bundle wrapped in red string in their left. They’re wearing a yellow lace fabric draped over their head, and a purple digital art necklace. The main background is an image of space with a moon and two blue bucks collaged behind Edgar’s head.

LOTUS BOY

LOTUS BOY is a gender-deconstructing, binary-defying, disabled Chinese-American drag king. Ze was born in April 2018 as a way to explore dysphoria; soon after, ze felt empowered to finally come out as non-binary/transgender. LOTUS BOY honors that drag is inherently political and is unapologetic in his values. Zir work explores ancestral healing, systemic oppression, binaries, sustainability, and accessibility; often through an educational and/or comedic lens.
LOTUS BOY was named “Best Newcomer” at the 2018 SF Drag King Competition, and he was an Artist Mentor at the 2018 Queer & Asian Performing Artist Residency at San Jose State University. In 2020 and 2021, LOTUS BOY was selected to perform at OAKLASH, and produce and moderate their own panel, “Drag + Disability: A Dialogue and Showcase.” In July 2021, they co-produced #STOPLINE3: A Drag Action for Indigenous Sovereignty” part teach-in, part drag show, part fundraiser, in solidarity with water protectors everywhere.
LOTUS BOY smiles while looking directly into the camera with zir head leaned slightly to the right. Zir drag makeup and clothes, a collared shirt and blazer, reference the trans pride colors – pink, blue, and white – as well as black and silver.

Peekaboo aka transcriptions01

A cellist since the age of 11, Peekaboo aka transcriptions01 is an aspiring Ethnomusicologist researching the diaspora of ancestral filipin(o/a/x)/latinx lineages, soundscoring memories of love and heartbreak while simultaneously activating forms of healing. Through the lens of being a non-binary QPoC, they explore "movement research", learning the somatic practices of breath and dance from Queer, Trans Black Indigenous and People of color healers, brujxs, activists and two-spirit folx. To reach ancestral cosmic ethers and find solace within heart and mind, Peekaboo shuffles tarot decks, gives love to their altar and opens up the bonds between past, present and future Queer ancestors. They have recorded, performed live and composed scores in collaboration with artists such as Tyler Holmes, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, ABD Skywatchers and jose e abad.
Peekaboo aka transcriptions01 looks directly into the camera while resting their head and arms on a cello. Their dark hair is down and wavy, and they’re wearing light cream colored eyeshadow, winged eyeliner, and glossy red lipstick.