Welsh artist’s work selected for Venice Biennale

Stephen Price

A Welsh artist is set to show his latest work at Aqua Art Miami, during Miami Art Week, and has also been selected at the Palazzo Pisani-Revedin to be shown at the coveted Venice Biennale in 2026.

Bug is a 22 year old autistic photographer and digital artist from Llantrisant whose work portrays the way he sees the world.

Bug is the alias of rising star Euan Balman, and for most of his life people around him haven’t understood him, the world he lives in or the impact autism has on him.

After appearing on an episode of ITV Backstage, Bug received a grant from the Arts Council to develop a collection of works which he hopes can help people to understand how being autistic affects his everyday life.

Bug’s latest artwork “Kabut” has been selected for exhibition at Aqua Art Miami, during Miami Art Week 2025 from 3 – 7 December 2025.

As if that wasn’t enough, he has also been selected at the Palazzo Pisani-Revedin during the Venice Biennale August–September 2026. Curated by Amy Jackson in collaboration with SHIM Art Network.

Kabut was inspired by Bug’s feeling of being trapped. He said: “Letting the world go by. I feel trapped. I feel like everything is too much, so I let the world go by around me.

“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 told Nation.Cymru: “I am very proud to represent Wales in this international collective. As an autistic person, I use my work to represent my world.

“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. 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 work usually starts from a photograph taken as part of an experience and become a visual representation of the emotions felt behind it through digital enhancement.

Bug shared: “Everyone is different and my experience as an autistic person means I find it hard to communicate how I feel in words. Standing still means I feel lost in this world, standing still alone on my own with the world going on around me.

“Finding it hard to communicate with words, I use art to try and show how I feel living in this world. Using coping mechanisms like masking, I can hide what I’m actually feeling inside my head and body in social situations or when out in public, but it takes a huge amount of energy.

“This is why I wanted to create artwork to show what it’s like to live in my world. Each piece of artwork shows a certain situation I was or have been in, how I was feeling and what a person with autism might go through in this crazy hectic world.

“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. 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 work is a glimpse into his mind and experiences. Bug told us: “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.”

Bug’s work most often reflects his experiences of autism. He said: “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.

“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.”

Honour

Bug told us: It is such an honour to have my work displayed in galleries across the world.

“Another piece of work ‘Fuzzy Feeling” was recently shown in an exhibition called The Path, which was part of a social justice piece curated by Amy Jackson in the Palaazzo Pisani – Revedin in Venice, Italy.

“This is the latest exhibition which has seen my work displayed in the holy art and artist in residence Boomer gallery in London.

“My work was shown in an immersive tour taking it around Europe- Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris. Also my art piece ‘red alert’ which is part of my standing still collection has been in New York, Times Square.

“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.

“All my work starts with me going out with my camera and using everyday experiences to explore all the information that bombards my brain at once.

“I use colour, movement and exposure to control the story so that my images represent the extraordinary found within the ordinary.”

Find more of Bug’s work here.