Artist makes miniature bug sculptures from insects riding bicycles to ‘gender-bending’ beetles playing with sex toys

An artist who turns dead insects into unique miniatures, including beetles using sex toys, dancing on stripper poles and watching pornography, has said they sell the quirky creations for hundreds of pounds despite some negative reactions.

Shelby Walton, 26, from Denver, Colorado, an artist and part-time worker at Trader Joe’s, has created more than 1,000 artworks by taking apart dead insects like beetles, butterflies and scorpions and gluing them back together in human-like positions.

The artwork, which is displayed in small globes or frames, is not everyone’s cup of tea, with many people saying “they don’t get it” but Shelby is now hoping to turn the passion into a full-time career.

Shelby, who has drawers full of insects at home, sells their work for between £100 and £275 at craft markets and online, and has recently gone viral after one of their posts received more than 20,000 likes on Instagram.

Each piece can take up to eight hours to make, with Shelby using miniature objects such as fishing rods, cigarettes and sex toys to set the scene.

“I made a bug that is sitting, using a vibrator, and smoking a vape,” Shelby told PA Real Life.

“I also made a gender-bending bug, which is wearing high heels but it’s got a big dick and is holding a used condom and handcuffs.

“I’m a queer artist, so a lot of my frames and phrases have to do with being gay and I think we’ve experienced a lot of hate in the community.

“I think a lot of my passion (also) comes from detesting organised religion and the ideas it spreads.

“I wanted an element of control over my own life and sexuality, all of the things which the bible tells you are bad.

“The bible tells you that homosexuality is a sin, that wives are the property of their husbands, that sex before marriage is bad…

“So I take all of these old-fashioned and religious ideas and I turn the opposite of that into art.”

Shelby was raised in a religious town in Colorado called Colorado Springs but has always refused to follow their parents’ faith.

At the age of 16, suffering from depression, they attended a Christian wilderness therapy programme for “troubled teenagers” in Georgia.

The one-year programme is designed to help teenagers escape bad influences and daily struggles in a wilderness environment.

“Cut off from the world,” it was here that Shelby developed a passion for pressing plants and collecting dead insects.

After completing the programme in 2015, which they described as the “worst f****** year” of their life, Shelby began brainstorming ideas for what to do with their collection.

They said the first few pieces were “pretty tame”, which included bugs riding bicycles and framed butterflies, but have since evolved into more complex constructions.

“Recently, I’ve been on a kick of creating bugs that are holding sex toys,” said Shelby, who estimates having made more than 1,000 sculptures.

“I made one the other day, which is a bug sitting and watching porn on a computer and there’s a box of tissues next to the computer and a sex toy on the ground.

“They’re just getting dirtier as time goes on.”

Many of their pieces are centred around the idea of sexual freedom while others combine provocative words and colourful butterflies in a single frame.

“I’ll have bugs embracing their sexuality in a dirty scene,” they said.

“Or I’ll have words like whore and slut, which are used to describe people in derogatory ways, and flip it on its head by putting it with a beautiful butterfly.

“That way it kind of takes the sting away from the word and adds a beautiful element to it.

“It’s kind of reclaiming something that has been used to cause a lot of harm.”

To create their sculptures, Shelby orders insects from “sustainable sanctuaries” in Peru and Madagascar, and thrifts for miniature objects locally.

Beetles are one of their favourite bugs to work with due to their variety and sturdiness, although they also use butterflies, moths, mantises and scorpions.

Usually, they design the setting before breaking off the bugs’ legs and gluing them back together in the desired position.

“That’s kind of my specialty at this point, being able to manipulate them and move their bodies in the ways that I need,” they added.

Each sculpture takes Shelby between two and eight hours to create depending on how intricate they are.

Shelby sells their artworks at craft markets and online, through social media, and is planning on launching a website at the end of summer.

They said people often laugh or turn their noses up at their work, saying “they don’t get it”.

“I like having conversations with people and being able to share my side of things, so that maybe they think differently about it,” said Shelby.

“I’ve had people walk up and be like, ‘Oh that’s what it is’ and then make a really sour face and walk away.

“I’ve also had people walk up with their kids before and say, ‘No honey, not this one’.”

Shelby posts pictures of their artwork on social media and was shocked when one of them, showing a beetle urinating in a toilet, received more than 20,000 likes on Instagram.

Currently they divide their time equally between making art and working at Trader Joe’s, but dreams of pursuing their passion full time.

“It’s been really cool seeing how, over the past couple of months, when I’ve been really grinding and putting a lot of hard work in, that pay off in exposure,” they said.

“I know that what I make is unique, and so the validation I’m getting from strangers on the internet is pretty big.

“So I feel like if I keep going at this rate, it’s a realistic possibility.”

To find out more about Shelby’s artwork follow @curi_oddities on Instagram.