GHOSTS
2024 - ongoing
Ceramic generative art collection
A sculptural ceramic project that extends into a generative art collection in collaboration with the collector. Inspired by the artist's struggles with her health alongside a childhood love of computer games and digital pets. GHOSTS combines handmade, unique ghost characters with digital interactivity and breeding mechanics, GHOSTS has one foot in the physical and one in the digital.
Its digital and physical identities are linked immutably via an NFC chip embedded in the base of the sculpture, with its digital identity acting as a certificate of authenticity, alongside access to interactive features.
GHOSTS goes live at midnight on Halloween, 31st Oct 2025. Sign up here to be the first to get your hands on a raffle ticket to win one of the first 10 artworks!
The Basics
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Each GHOST is handmade from stoneware ceramic and finished with a variety of glazes. Due to the handmade nature of the artwork and the unpredictable nature of glazing, every GHOST is completely unique.
Its digital counterpart - a 3D model representing the unique GHOST - is linked via an NFC chip embedded in the base of the sculpture.
Each GHOST is also finished with velvet underfoot and where its two parts meet, to protect the design and increase its functionality.
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Each GHOST is embedded with an NFC chip which links to its digital certificate of authenticity, its digital avatar and interactive features. With ECR-721 technology documenting every exhibition, re-sale and character interaction.
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Each GHOST has a unique genetic code which is stored in its digital certificate of authenticity. This code reflects physical attributes such as colours and designs, but also its digital personality traits which can be influenced by the relationship it has with its collector.
This genetic code also comes into play when a collector decides to breed their GHOST, with the next generation (or baby GHOST) inheriting a random mix of genes from both parents dependant on dominant and recessive genes.
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Collectors can either breed GHOSTS in their own collection - granted they own more than one - or breed with other collectors. Next generation, inherit the genetic code of the two parents at random. The same genetic lottery we are all a result of. The act of breeding generates a completely new digital artwork which can be traded as such.
But with one key difference! Collectors have the right to request physical production of their next generation GHOST, bringing it back into the physical world with the creation of its ceramic counterpart - just like those of the initial collection, but with the unique visual identity it has inherited from its parents.
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For the first time since the invention of the Ouija board, new technologies mean that GHOSTS can communicate with the living!
Every GHOSTS has their own unique character, backstory and digital personality. Collectors can interact with their GHOST to uncover more about their mysterious origins and share their own deepest secrets. Every interaction between a GHOST and their collector also has the chance to shift their personality ratings. Frequent interaction might increase their sanity levels and decrease their existentialism, meaning that a GHOST develops right alongside their living companions.
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There are only 150 GHOSTS in the Gen Zero. 50 of these are served for collaborations. The rest are broken down into 10 family factions, each made up of 10 unique GHOSTS. Each family faction has their own unique backstory, character traits and visual styles.
There is a limit to the total supply of GHOSTS. Which means once all of the breeding slots have been fulfilled, no more GHOSTS will be able to be created.
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GHOSTS occupy the liminal space of the MIDNIGHT Realm, a world of their own between those of the living and the dead. Known by many names and often considered a limbo of sorts, The Midnight Realm has a geography of its own which can only be discovered through conversations with your GHOST.
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While GHOSTS are fine art sculptures in their own right, each one comes with a hidden functional aspect that is to be used at the discretion of their collector. Each GHOST hides a functional ashtray in its belly, inspired by the artists fight with the hidden condition, Endometriosis.
Therefore the ashtray acts as a symbol of female rebellion in an age where young girls are still pushed opioid painkillers more regularly than receiving the medical help they really need!
A ‘first of its kind’ interactive art collection that investigates the relationship between artwork and collector, inviting them to play a key part in the creative process.
Social Initiative
Endometriosis is a chronic health condition effecting 1 in 10 women but with an average diagnosis time of ten years.
Artist Elska Leeloo was diagnosed with chronic women’s health condition Endometriosis at 14. She continues to receive regular treatment and surgeries for the condition but the process of diagnosis was incredibly arduous. While times have changed since her diagnosis and the condition is now more widely recognised, it continues to be treated with opioid pain control rather than permanent solutions.
Each GHOST has a hidden functional ashtray. This can be accessed by removing the top and was inspired by Elska’s decision a few years ago to treat her condition with medical cannabis instead of opioids. This hidden functionality is reflective of the hidden element of endometriosis and most women's health conditions. The taboos surrounding women's health and their bodies are reflected with dark irony in the taboo of tobacco consumption and smoking. The GHOST ashtray is intentionally provocative.
Charity initiative and donations are written into the GHOSTS code for both initial sales and secondary sales. While these funds focus mainly on endometriosis-related charities, they are also intended to support other ‘Ghosts of Society’ - individuals that often go overlooked by society - for which the project has come to symbolise.