Mihai Cotiga
Born: 1993
Hometown: Tunrnu Magurele
Based in: Bucharest
My name is Mihai Cotiga, born in Turnu Magurele, Romania. Living in Bucharest, Romania, where I have my painting studio. My paintings can be found in private collections in many countries like USA, France, UAE, Canada, Romania. Over the years I had exibited in solo shows and group shows in Romania and Netherlands. Since 2009 I've been paintings in oils and experimenting with various materials. Most of my work untill 2018 it's abstract. I explored and studied abstract expressionism, different types of colours and surfaces, oil paints, enamels, spray paints, oxides, canvas, paper, cloths and so on. I always painted to answer questions and to evoke emotion.
The search remained constant, I am always looking for emotion, mystery and answers to existential questions by exploring achetypal structures. I use what is
closest to me, daily interactions, travels, things that interest me like architecture and our relationship with it and the space it creates, history, mostly its darker moments, catching people in a certain state etc.
I take many photos everywhere I go, digital and film, they are a big part of the process that precedes painting. The images are a visual atlas of things that I see
daily. I sort these photos, I edit them and then sort them again so some of them become future works.
The result is the creation of some beautiful images from something that is part of a collective imagistic vocabulary. For example a block of flats from Bucharest, a
church from Guernica or Notre Dame of Paris. The block of flats from the work is a consequence of communism presents our relationship with urban contemporary
space, the church in Bilbao was bombed in 1937 and Notre-Dame was caught with a fence in front because it burned in 2019, I saw this as a potential death of
european culture or at least a mild heart attack.
I use architecture and space as a result of the faculty I followed and because it influences very much our physiology and our psychology operating in the world. I
chose to express my ideas through painting because I feel the need to do this and it gives me huge freedom of expression.
I have an MFA in Architecture, create illustrations, catalogues, portfolios, posters and lots of other things, mostly creative related for a lot of years.
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Mihai Cotiga In The Studio
More About Mihai Cotiga
What inspires you?
I am inspired by stories and psychology, I was always facinated by meaning and what gives meaning, everything I see and do I question. My work slowly became an exploration and an understanding of archetypes, they are my main focus and I find them everywhere.
Describe your creative process.
My works are based on notes and photos that I take or find. I study them to see how can I transform the idea into a painting. Make a quick sketch, use a refference photo until I go on and paint what I want to achieve.
What are 3 words that best describe your work?
3 words that describe my work; meaning, archetype, human.
Who are some artists that have influenced your work?
I have always looked at what other artists did or do, from the old masters to contemporary. The artists that left a mark on my approach to art are Yves Klein, Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, Edourd Vuillard, Peter Doig, Adrian Ghenie, Caspar David Friedrich and many others. From each there is a different thing to learn, from the choosing of composition and scale to subject matter and the way of representation.
What is the most important tool when creating your work?
My mind is my most improtant tool, I always keep a relaxed and patient mind in the studio.
What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
I think someone said to me never give up. Something that never left my mind was a clip of Marina Abramovich talking about what her professor told her, he said that if you wake up with an idea and a need to create it you're an artist.
Where do you go for inspiration?
My best inspiration comes from listening and looking, I also read, travel and take a lot of photos.
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