A 22-year-old autistic photographer and digital artist from Wales has achieved international recognition, with his work selected for both Miami Art Week 2025 and the prestigious Venice Biennale 2026. Bug, whose real name is Euan Balman, is from Llantrisant and creates artwork that portrays his unique perspective of the world through the lens of autism.
Bug's latest artwork, titled "Kabut," will be exhibited at Aqua Art Miami during Miami Art Week from December 3-7, 2025. The piece has also been selected for display at the Palazzo Pisani-Revedin during the Venice Biennale in August-September 2026, curated by Amy Jackson in collaboration with SHIM Art Network. This represents a significant achievement for the young artist who has spent most of his life feeling misunderstood by those around him.
The inspiration behind "Kabut" stems from Bug's personal feelings of being trapped in a world that often overwhelms him. "Letting the world go by. I feel trapped. I feel like everything is too much, so I let the world go by around me," Bug explained. "I want to stop this feeling. I hate the thought of just letting the world go by. I want to jump in, but it can be so hard and confusing."
Bug's artistic journey gained momentum after appearing on an episode of ITV Backstage, which led to him receiving a grant from the Arts Council. This funding allowed him to develop a collection of works aimed at helping people understand how autism affects his daily life. "I am very proud to represent Wales in this international collective," Bug told Nation.Cymru. "As an autistic person, I use my work to represent my world."
Photography serves as Bug's primary tool for understanding and communicating with his surroundings. "Photography helps me to understand my surroundings by slowing things down, I then can develop these images by controlling the light, noise and power of the image," he explained. "This is a much easier way for me to communicate. When I am out with my camera, I like to try and find the extraordinary in the ordinary."
Bug's creative process typically begins with a photograph taken during a real experience, which then becomes a visual representation of the emotions he felt in that moment through digital enhancement. For him, art serves as a crucial communication tool when words fail. "Everyone is different and my experience as an autistic person means I find it hard to communicate how I feel in words," he shared.
The artist described the overwhelming sensory experiences that inspire his work, particularly when navigating public spaces. "When I go out in public, I feel like I have to stand still a lot, to take in everything moving and going on around me," Bug explained. "The lights, people talking, cars driving, dogs barking, clocks ticking, the smells of 100 different things, babies crying and footsteps all around me. I don't feel real, I want to go inside my own space where I don't have to worry what's going to happen unexpectedly next."
Bug's artwork provides viewers with a glimpse into his mind and experiences living with autism. He described various situations that trigger overwhelming feelings: "Whenever I'm shopping, I feel overwhelmed. Whenever I'm on a field, I feel dizzy. Whenever I'm walking somewhere and I see something new, I feel scared. I feel wobbly, like everything is closing in on me, people, animals, cars, the world, the moon, mars and the whole galaxy and universe, I feel wobbly."
One particular piece reflects his struggles with processing verbal communication in busy environments. "When making this piece of artwork I was in a dark tunnel with my camera and torch, and was thinking about the many times I couldn't fully understand what people were talking about, like when I've worked on a film set or in school," Bug explained. "Being distracted with what all sorts is going on around me, like people talking. I was trying to make letters all messed up with a dark background because when this happens I feel enclosed because I'm concentrating so hard on what the person is saying. But all I hear is uhvrjfmifkhgntirjmk."
Bug's international recognition extends beyond the upcoming exhibitions. His work "Fuzzy Feeling" was recently displayed in an exhibition called "The Path," a social justice piece curated by Amy Jackson in the Palazzo Pisani-Revedin in Venice, Italy. His art has also been featured in the Holy Art and Artist in Residence Boomer Gallery in London, with an immersive tour that traveled through European cities including Brussels, Amsterdam, and Paris. Additionally, his piece "Red Alert," part of his "Standing Still" collection, was displayed in Times Square, New York.
"It is such an honor to have my work displayed in galleries across the world," Bug reflected. "I feel very proud and excited to get my works out, showing how autism makes me see the world. My aim is to use my work to move the understanding of autism and neurodiverse people forward. I believe there is no normal just differences in thinking." His artistic mission centers on using everyday experiences to explore the overwhelming information that bombards his brain, utilizing color, movement, and exposure to control the narrative and represent the extraordinary found within the ordinary.
