Emotional Clay is an interdisciplinary art–research project combining traditional pottery techniques with new technologies such as, data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI). The project aims to create an interactive ceramic object – a touch-responsive vessel – that supports emotional expression and healing processes related to trauma and anxiety through the sensory experience of working with clay. It explores clay as an emotional medium enabling nonverbal communication and a sense of safety in the act of creation.

The project involves developing an interactive installation in which participants’ touch recorded by sensors tracking heart rate, movement, pressure, and temperature is processed through a microcontroller and stored in a decentralized archive based on blockchain or cloud technology. These data are then interpreted by AI algorithms to generate visual representations of emotions, forming “mental landscapes.”

The initiative is participatory in nature, engaging multicultural, with refugee experience adult participants who have experienced trauma, mental health crises, or social exclusion. Through collective clay modeling, participants were able to externalize emotions in both material and digital forms. The process was documented through film, digital imagery, and a publication presenting the results and reflections.

“Emotional Clay” is both an artistic and social experiment that investigates how art, touch, and technology can contribute to emotional healing and the creation of new forms of emotional communication. The project advances the idea of spiritual activism, in which art becomes a tool for emotional transformation and intercultural dialogue.

10 Mental landscapes logarythm generated modules
50 x 50 cm digital files

10 ceramic vessles done during workshops with people with refugee experience

Each Mental landscape is accompanied by a clay vessel accordingly.