Sam Spratt - Masks of Luci

Masks of Luci are 613 painted masks by Sam Spratt, made for X. Masquerade, the sixth chapter of his LUCI story. Each one faces forward on a flat square of color, in a material such as wood, stone, bone or fungi, some with teeth, antlers or horns. All but seven have a name, from The First Observer to Amniotica. Most also hold writing: the observation the first holder left during the game, and usually the replies that holder wrote to others and a later revision.

Spratt made the series with Nifty Gateway Studio, which announced Masquerade in January 2025. He built an AI engine that learned from his past paintings brushstroke by brushstroke, then combined its output with new work drawn by hand. "I do not have interest in having something dream for me, they're my dreams," he said. Masks went on sale in February. Players from The Monument Game were invited, each could bring a paying guest, and a public drawing offered a few more. From February 21 holders pinned observations onto the chapter's painting, argued over them and revised them, and those words were kept onchain. The Council of Luci judged the writing and picked three winners, who each received a prize mask, for creation, destruction or balance. The images were revealed on March 13.

The traits come out of the game. Category sorts the masks into eight themes that Spratt maps onto the Kabbalah's tree of life, from Foundation, for the plain truths, to Luminate at its heart. Rank marks the Finalists, Seers and Winners. Fifty Council Masks were made to pair with the Skulls of Luci, each under its skull's name. The collective Kanbas bought that painting, X. Masquerade, in February, and in 2025 the Toledo Museum of Art showed the masks with it.