Crowds of people cycled through the Surplus Gallery at the Glove Factory on Saturday for the annual Love at the Glove art show, a one-night event featuring 2-D and 3-D artistic interpretations of love and lust.

This year marks the 19th time the gallery has hosted the show, which features art of all mediums including ceramics, sculpture, paintings, photography, woodwork, embroidery and even human models.

Margaret Lebeau, a senior studying art and one of the participating artists, displayed a piece called “Lover’s Legs.” The piece was a 3-D sculpture crafted out of steel to look like two legs connected at the knees with one foot raised into the air.

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Lebeau said the piece means a lot to her because it was one of the first pieces she was allowed to dictate.

“I think this show is really important for the community as well as anybody who is looking to branch out with their emotions and kind of learn a little more about themselves,” Lebeau said. “It is a very open opportunity for everybody.”

A bit past Lebeau’s sculpture was a large 3D penis made out of what appeared to be carved wood, on a leash that is jerking to the right with a metal-studded leather collar and a dog tag that says “envy” in green ink. There was no artist listed for the piece but it attracted dozens of admirers.

To the right of the piece was another popular 3-D installation- a large chocolate dildo poking out of a clear container with baby Donald Trump and red heart balloons floating overhead.

Attached to it was a card reading, “To President Trump, from Russia with love,” with a Russian flag next to the message. The artist was anonymous.

Gallery • 7 Photos

Isabel Miller | @isabelmillermedia

Community member walk around observing art on Friday Feb. 8, 2019 during the annual Love at the Glove event inside the Glove factory in Carbondale.

Ann Dawkins, a graduate student studying art and a participating artist, showed a small painting titled “Rotten Grapefruit.” Dawkins said she used rotting fruit imagery in her painting to symbolize the fragility of the human body.

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“Our human bodies are sort of uncontrollable and transient – something that is like seperate from ourselves,” Dawkins said. “The work has kind of taken on the form of the human body and some of the fruit comes out really vaginal.”

Demetrio Antunez, a senior art major, submitted a woodcut print featuring two hands grasping each other, one from above and one from below. Antunez said the piece is meant to signify the love of Christ.

“The hand coming down has light shining down as well, and then the hand grasping it from below has darkness coming up,” Antunez said. “So it’s almost like a duality but also like Christ coming down and supporting the figure in the piece.”

Artist Red O’Flannery, a junior majoring in ceramics, created the display “Tea Bodies.” The display is ceramic and consists of three teapots that represent different female body types.

“I wanted to do a series of body positive pieces,” O’Flannery said. “One is more of a stereotypical, more athletic and a big bosom, that sort of thing, and then I have a heavier-set woman and I have also a pregnant body.”

O’Flannery said she hopes to expand the series to include more body types as well as male and trans narratives.

Sparkles La Fae, an artist from Heads or Tails Outfitters, a local company that creates custom accessories, created several headpieces worn by models at the event.

The pieces were made in a variety of materials and styles; some were floral, some leather, some with chains, wire work or glass work, and even ones with horns.

La Fae refers to the horns as dragon crowns and said she pulls inspiration from things around her.

“I feel like it empowers people to have a set of horns on,” La Fae said. “Like they can face anything.”

La Fae said she hopes people get a little bit of joy from her pieces.

The artist with the most pieces in the show was photographer James Ferraro, who had several photographs of nude women in various positions of bondage.

From the moment the show opened, the gallery was filled with people and not a single art piece went unnoticed.

Donations made at the event went to the Carbondale Women’s Center.

Staff reporter Kallie Cox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @KallieC45439038.

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