glopossum

Community (UNION Zine) [Sketch]

Added 2025-02-07 23:18:47 +0000 UTC

Sketch for my forthcoming submission to UNION vol. 3.

Been cooking a lot on my idea for this piece, and landed on the convergence of several ideas born out of the visceral comforts that bondage brings, the current state of the country, the community-building that comes with kink, and the sense of safety that comes from that community. I wanted to show what bondage means to me, and that beyond the pleasures and hedonism, community comes foremost.

I felt this feeling for the first time at Folsom Berlin. I was wearing a pretty simple get-up, a leather pony hood and cuffs, and still felt a large amount of recognition and acceptance from every other pony I came across. It was a beautiful space to behold and an honor to feel as though I were a part of it.

And the imagery of a huddled mass of pleasured bodies was what popped into mind, with the feeling of "huddling for warmth, safety, and comfort," juxtaposed with the elements of bondage, cuffs and ropes and hoods and gear tangling and connecting the group together, tightly bound to suggest they're inseperable. Despite the imagery of entrapment, this is where we find our comfort, community, and bliss.

I started hunting through historical paintings I've kept near and dear to my heart, focusing in on several consistent elements: hands clutching into flesh, bodies closely pressed together, limbs entangled and nearly indiscernable from each other, bodies obscured by and disappearing into darkness, hedonism and bliss in the face of evil.

I also want a wide range of representation; ponies, pups, pigs, drones, leathermen, etc. There are definitions between our circles, but we are ultimately unified. ♥