Jen Bateman is a 44 year-old, agender multimedia and performance artist, illustrator, photographer, writer, and public speaker on the autism spectrum.
Primarily an autodidact with little formal training, Jen's creative work embodies the guiding philosophy that life is art. Jen is best known for their introspective blogging and vlogging, slice-of-life webcomics, ink illustrations, vintage-inspired styling, and fondness for rats.
Through the use of symbolic "language" evolved over their life to compensate for communication difficulties, Jen's work explores the complexity of identity and self-image in the modern world; a more pressing issue than ever with the rise of generative AI. It fearlessly bridges the gap between colourful humour and difficult topics such as anxiety, depression, mental illness, love, neurodiversity, and disability.
Jen views comics as a highly-accessible and ideally-suited medium to help people develop deeper empathy for others and learn more about themselves.
JC B8MN's mission is to advocate and educate for the rights of autistic and neurodivergent people, and to promote self-exploration for all people through art and creativity in daily life.
Jen uses They/Them/Sir pronouns.
Jen is married to artist/musician Dan Bateman.
Also:
President and Creative Director
Minnesota Comic Book Association
Copyright © 2024 Jen Bateman & JC B8MN LLC