Meet Zlaser
Zlaser is an Irish digital artist and professional photographer whose work explores the tension between memory, emotion, and permanence. Living in Ireland with his wife and three children, Zlaser’s artistic journey took a pivotal turn in 2024 when a short health-related hiatus allowed him to dive deeper into digital art. “I live in Ireland with my wife and three kids. I'm a professional photographer but in 2024 I had to take a short break for health reasons. It was during this hiatus that I really discovered digital art by experimenting more with the software I used for photography. I've always loved art and became addicted to creating it digitally and also with AI. This then led me to the NFT scene on ETH and Tezos in the spring of 2025. However, crypto-wise, I've been a bitcoin maxi since 2017, thats why I stupidly missed the original nft boom, and I always had a yearning to create work on the chain, to leave a tiny mark that will for sure outlive me. That's what first drew me in and keeps me coming back to Ordinals.”
An Intuitive Approach
Zlaser describes his artistic process as primarily intuitive. “My approach is mostly about intuition, playing with textures and layers until the image feels like a memory or a feeling I can’t quite put into words. Even with my personal photography, I’m always chasing half-forgotten memories, experiences and emotions I've lived through, or dreams I've just had. To me, authenticity means choosing that honesty over technical perfection; I’d much rather the final image, be it abstract, figurative or a blend of both, feel 'broken' but real than perfect but empty.” This instinctive methodology carries over into the pieces he releases on Bitcoin Ordinals, where he finds a unique canvas for his work.
Digital Permanence
When asked why he chose Bitcoin Ordinals as a medium, Zlaser points to the idea of permanence. “What drew me to Bitcoin Ordinals is the idea of digital permanence. So much of my work is about things that are fleeting and I like the contrast in taking a 'broken' or evocative image and inscribing it onto the most immutable, indestructible ledger ever created. Whenever I inscribe I imagine someone in the distant future happening across the image and wondering what it could possibly mean. There's a weight to Ordinals that fits perfectly with my desire to capture experiences that I don't want to disappear.” For him, the blockchain itself becomes part of the art, embedding impermanence into something everlasting.
Familiarity
Zlaser’s pieces are imbued with personal meaning. “'Transient Kinship in Pink' I wanted to take a scene that feels familiar, in my mind they are two families in a campsite who have just met, but subvert it with a surreal, overwhelming palette. The pink distorts the moment into something that feels like a sliver of time being remembered from a great distance. By putting this on Bitcoin, I wanted to take a transient connection, something that was never meant to last, and make it permanent.”
Another work, Choose Your Own Adventure, explores the tension of moments suspended in time. “It represents that feeling of being suspended in a moment where everything is still ahead of you. It’s a grainy, high-contrast capture of three young people in a car, a scene that feels like the start of a journey or a late-night drive where the destination doesn't matter as much as the company. I chose a very textured, almost newspaper-print aesthetic for this because I wanted it to feel like a rediscovered artifact. It’s stripped of colour and fine detail to focus on the raw mood of the 'adventure' itself. It’s been run through various software to give it a 'photocopy of a photocopy' feeling. It’s an invitation for that imaginary viewer in the future to fill in the blanks of the story themselves.”
Emotional Core
Zlaser’s foundation in traditional art informs his digital work. “I’ve always had a foot in the traditional world, through experimental and street photography. In the past that meant using film and techniques like ICM to get that specific grit or haze, but transitioning to digital art, and specifically working with AI and digital manipulation, has opened up my creative process. I can iterate, layer, and 'break' an image over and over again until it hits that exact 'frequency' I want.” This evolution allowed him to push boundaries while retaining the emotional core of his earlier work.
Intentionality
His journey with digital art and ordinals has also shaped Zlaser as an individual. “On a personal level, the journey has pushed me to be more intentional and disciplined. It feels like I’m making better use of my time, moving away from just being a hobby and toward building a cohesive, strong body of work. Instead of just chasing the next idea, I’m thinking about how each image builds on the ones before it. I have a deeper appreciation for consistency and the value of working toward something that is meant to last.”
Light and Dark
Zlaser draws inspiration from a diverse array of artists and movements. “I’m pretty heavily influenced by a mix of 20th-century painting and photography. From Post-Impressionism and Fauvism, I tend to treat colour emotionally rather than literally. I’m not interested in the 'correct' colour, but the colour that represents the mood. From Abstract Expressionism, I draw the focus on gesture, randomness and the raw energy of the textures themselves.” On the photographic side, he cites Harry Gruyaert, Josef Koudelka, Trent Parke, and Alex Webb as key influences. “I try to navigate the balance between inspiration and originality by taking these analogue sensibilities and dragging them into the digital age. I’m using modern tools to chase the same things they were: the tension between light and dark, and the emotional weight of a single moment. I’m not just trying to recreate their styles; I’m trying to see what happens when those classic aesthetics meet the glitches and possibilities of digital painting, collage and AI.”
Slowing Down
Working in the fast-moving worlds of digital art and cryptocurrency has taught Zlaser valuable lessons. “While I do still fall into the trap of being on Twitter too much, this journey has taught me to be much more protective of my energy and time. Until recently, I struggled with that constant pressure that if you aren't dropping something new every day or two, you're falling behind. I would say adapting to that challenge has been a part of my personal growth over the last few months. I’m learning to slow down and prioritise quality over quantity. That shift has started to bleed into 'real life' too; it’s helped me be more intentional with my other work and more present in the time I spend with my family. By slowing down, the work actually becomes more meaningful.”
Prioritise Your Voice
Zlaser’s vision for the future remains grounded in building a meaningful, cohesive body of work. “Looking ahead, my main aspiration is to continue refining this specific visual language until I’ve built a truly substantial body of work. I don't want to just 'make inscriptions', I want to create a cohesive archive of these digital memories. Technically I want to see how far I can push things within the file-size constraints of Bitcoin.”
For emerging digital artists, his advice is simple: “My biggest piece of advice is to prioritise your own voice over the market’s noise. It is very easy to look at what is selling for high prices and think you need to pivot your style to match it. But in the world of Bitcoin Ordinals, where everything is so permanent, your greatest asset is your authenticity. Also, remember that you’re not just making images, you’re contributing to a new cultural layer of the most secure blockchain on earth.”
Zlaser’s work sits at the intersection of memory, emotion, and permanence, capturing fleeting moments and immortalizing them on Bitcoin, where they may one day be discovered by someone far in the future, wondering about the stories behind the images.
Explore Zlaser's art on Gamma
