International rubber titleholder Elliott Eve and photographer Mia Konarik have been capturing Melbourne’s Rubber community since 2024, in their attention grabbing Gimp Series. Their new event SUBSURFACE offers a bold retrospective.
Mia and Elliott have brought one of Naarm’s most dynamic underground subcultures to gallery walls across the city.
The duo have documented Melbourne’s thriving Rubber community over the last two years, in their unique Gimp Series.
The series comes to a close with SUBSURFACE, a retrospective taking place in Collingwood on Saturday 19 September.
Given the wonderfully subversive subject matter, attendees can expect rather a lot more than flat prosecco in plastic cups with a few prints on the walls. SUBSURFACE is also going to be a full-on warehouse party, offering hidden backrooms, DJ sets, and even roaming performances by some of Melbourne’s most arresting dancers.
SUBSURFACE
- When: 19 September, 6pm – 1am
- Where: Second Story Studios, Collingwood
- Tickets here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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The origins of the Gimp Series began with a single idea that flashed into Elliott’s mind.
“The Latex Last Supper,” they say. “Once that was shot, Mia and I quickly built momentum with additional concepts, recognizing the potential to expand a single concept into something far more meaningful and impactful.”
Elliott credits Mia’s extensive photography background as an easy fit within their own expertise as a latex content creator, unified by deep mutual connections to the Melbourne Rubber community.
Their goal in presenting the Gimp Series was to showcase the diversity of the personalities and performers of the community, without being inherently sexualised.
This was a stereotype they were keen to avoid.
“The project aims to highlight the creativity, artistic expression, and personal identity that can define Melbourne’s Rubber scene,” Elliott emphasises.
The many layers of expression and artistry that embody this photographic series is reflected in the very deliberate title selection.
Mia explains that ‘subsurface’ encompasses a broad array of the values they both uphold as creatives. It also speaks more literally to the underground aspect of the community that are platforming through their art.
“Music, events, and people that aren’t conventionally showcased in the mainstream,” Mia explains. “It offers an even deeper meaning of what lies beneath the surface of us as human beings… Emotions, feelings, personal truths that can only be seen once you peel back the layers of what lies beneath.”
Mia points to the empowering nature of latex, whereby hiding beneath an external layer of personal expression has led the material to being regarded affectionately as a second skin.
“Considering it as a skin, as the outermost layer of a human being,” Mia says, “subsurface encompasses everything that exists beneath.”
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The Rubber community shares the same principles of respect and recognition wherever it’s found, with the directive ‘don’t yuck my yum’ serving as an unchallenged fundamental all over the world.
Elliott specifies these core values as consent and inclusivity, paired with an active willingness to invite newcomers. Yet there are specific elements of the Melbourne Rubber cohort that can’t be found anywhere else.
“It’s the particular way these values come together,” Elliott asserts. “There’s a very strong sense of connection between the Rubber community and the broader queer and fetish communities. Melbourne’s uniqueness isn’t necessarily in having different characteristics from other rubber communities, but how those shared values have developed here.”
Underlining the celebratory nature of the event, being the finale of the long-running Gimp Series, Elliott eagerly wanted the night to be one to remember.
Heavily inspired by Hobart’s mid-year arts festival Dark Mofo, the venue of SUBSURFACE is designed to allow for uninterrupted exploration throughout the evening.
The decision, also, to opt for roaming performers was driven by the desire to cultivate a distinct atmosphere for the end-of-an-era event.
“Each performer has been carefully selected,” Elliott promises, “and their timing throughout the evening is intentional. We’re inviting people to stay, explore, enjoy and be captivated by the performers that you’ll engage with.”
Unsurprisingly, the most difficult part of bringing this photography series to life over the past two years has been simple logistics. Namely: sourcing locations for shoots, coordinating large groups of willing gimps, and working around so many different personal schedules. The fruits of these labours, however, have been intensely rewarding.
“It takes a village to create beautiful art sometimes,” Mia says, “and though it is a challenge, the struggle itself is part of what makes it beautiful. The art exists beyond just the final product; the art is everything and everyone that had to come together to create it in the first place.”
For many, the Rubber community remains largely mysterious and broadly misunderstood. Mia and Elliott hope that their photography can shed some light on an underground artistic culture.
“If I can spark one creative process in someone from this event,” Elliott says, “then I’m satisfied with just that.
“I’d love to provoke creativity and feelings from others, and I encourage them to utilise it as an outlet, however that may look to you.”
SUBSURFACE is taking place on Saturday 19 September. Get your tickets here.
This article was made in partnership with Elliot Eve.
