Fund Peony Picnic

Over the past two years, movement-based multidisciplinary artists Abriel and Kearian have been developing a piece called Peony Picnic. First conceived in the Spring of 2021, the work has moved through evolutions of vocal performance, choreography, site specific performance, and fantastical set design. Excerpts have been shown at Lavender Dance Festival at Atwater Village Theater and Black Artist Voices Showcase at Stomping Ground LA. Peony Picnic now has the opportunity to premiere as a full length work at Highways Performance Space and Gallery on September 22nd and 23rd.

Peony Picnic creates a world that explores themes of support, isolation, excess and resilience. Existing in the intersection of movement, sound, and set design, Peony Picnic navigates feelings of deep discomfort and dissatisfaction with the systems that we operate in. Abriel & Kearian embody what brings them pleasure, what causes them unease, and attempt to make sense of their lived experiences through layering various art mediums together into one performance.

In order for this work to come to life, Abriel and Kearian need your support!

Donations will go directly to the artists, production team (stage manager, lighting designer, sound designer, & crew), and preparatory logistics (studio space rental, set design needs, marketing & administrative costs).

Consider donating to help produce this magical evening length work!

From Abriel & Kearian:

"This work is wrought with questions, how do we move through, how can we persevere?

How do you cope with an overwhelming lack?

There’s a sense of abandonment I feel as I navigate through.

Where are my queer elders?

Where are the sages to guide me?

I know there are those that survived the egregious “cleansing” of white supremacy. I seek them out. They can often sense me from across a crowded room.

…..

The belief that we are all connected, seems to prevail in narratives across most mediums.

To be honest, I'm bombarded with these messages constantly.

Yet I still experience the cold harshness of American individualism.

If love is love, stop calling me a f@ggot. If love is love, why do I still get beat down in the street?

Peony Picnic has become my resolution ”

-Kearian

“Peony Picnic. Softness, stillness and acceptance.

To create is powerful and brave and I am thankful.

The bleakness in this world is heavy. Excessive.

I feel the decay and suffering and must accept that this is a part of this realm.

The rage inside me is sometimes unbearable but

I find hope in the flowers

The resilience of the creative

and then continue on”

-Abriel

We met up at Griffith Park and put on an impromptu offering to passersby. Kearian sang arias while Abriel made a shrine of flowers on an old concrete slab in the middle of the park…. The moment was spontaneous and pure. Earlier that day we drove around the city talking about our heartbreaks, frustration and sadness. We needed a release. The offering was a way for us to make sense of our pain and create a moment of beauty for ourselves and others.

We decided to combine our solo endeavors: the things that form our identity as artists, the things that make us curious, how we create as individuals and cope with societal barriers. Coming together with our own wells of creativity & experiences as mixed queer bodies allowed us to forget something that is uniquely ours. This work is about everything and nothing. It is a love letter to ourselves and a scream into the void. It is a call to our ancestors and future generations.

Please consider donating as you are able, or sharing this campaign.

We greatly appreciate your help in making this vision reach its complete potential and your support means the world to us.

We hope to see you at the show!

Thank you.

With love,

Abriel & Kearian