Slug Love Bench, 2020

Slugs: unpopular ‘slimy’ creatures regarded as pests, now take centre stage; scaled up into elegant, majestic partners dancing together; their bodies intertwined in a unique, non-binary mating ritual.

As hermaphrodites, slugs possess a unique complexity and intelligence. Championing the abnormal, Colbert invites us to rethink our understanding of social norms of gender, beauty and sexuality; through the elevation of an overlooked and misunderstood creature.

“Slugs were the only pet I wanted as a child. Orange ones, leopard ones - the fascination has never stopped. Simultaneous hermaphrodites, they possess both male and female reproductive organs that are functional at the same time. Some species regularly self-fertilise. It’s all about elaborate courtship. They seem to transcend boundaries.” – Charlotte Colbert