X. Masquerade is a unique digital painting created by Sam Spratt using a combination of traditional digital techniques and AI-assisted tools. It is the central work in an evolving, participatory body of art — one that bridges classical painting traditions with modern technology and communal interaction. A singular panoramic scene unfolds, depicting a dense human network in motion — figures colliding in moments of love, camaraderie, debauchery, and transformation. At its core is Luci, a presence both guiding and observing, surrounded by a world in flux. The composition mirrors the chaos and order of human existence, revealing layers of meaning upon closer inspection. Images, words, and maps serve as access points to the intricate systems behind Masquerade and its connected collection of 613 Masks. The surface of the painting is not just an image but a living document — etched with digital inscriptions, shaped by hundreds of participants engaged in an ongoing dialogue. This communal layer, written in code, acts as a modern form of exegesis, where creative contributions, critical discourse, and revision form a continuous record of engagement. Spratt’s use of AI is not to generate, but to iterate — training models on his own brushwork, responding to their outputs, and refining each stroke to create a work that is at once ancient in its storytelling and contemporary in its execution. X. Masquerade is more than a painting; it is an evolving conversation, preserving the link between artist and viewer, and connecting the viewers to one another in a shared act of meaning-making.

Study from The Monument Game and the world of Luci.

Luci is a series of digital paintings paired with written psalms, released as episodic pieces of an evolving story about the rediscovery of our ancient human values in a post-historic world. The Skulls of Luci are a series of derivative paintings that were made as claimable gifts to every individual who placed an offer on Spratt’s first three Luci paintings: I. Birth of Luci, II. Lullabies for Isaac, and III. First Sacrifice. Each Skull painting is born from The Blueprint Skull and were designed as a way of saying thank you to the people who believed in Luci from the beginning.