Bio

Mihai Mircea Cotiga (b. 1993) is a Bucharest-based painter whose vibrant oil works merge tradition with contemporary tools. For over 16 years, he has refined a practice that blends advanced AI, Photoshop, and drawing to create saturated, surreal references, later translated into expressive canvases. At the heart of his art are portraits of elderly figures, transformed into archetypes that radiate humor, wisdom, and humanity.

With a Master’s degree in Architecture, Mihai brings a structured yet experimental approach, drawing from psychology, history, and personal experience. His paintings reflect a dialogue between reality and imagination, preparation and spontaneity, offering a unique vision that resonates both emotionally and conceptually.

Artist statement

I paint elders that don’t exist. invented faces built from AI, drawings, and fragments I transform on canvas. They carry humor, wisdom, and fragility, but also something impossible, slightly unreal. Maybe I chose them because I lost my grandparents early, maybe just because I wanted to look where others don’t. My work is about pushing color and geometry until reality bends, about finding meaning in the everyday while forcing it into something stranger, at the edge between the possible and the impossible.

Exhibitions

• 2024 – Fluidități ale formei, Culturama Festival, Brașov, Romania (Group)

• 2023 – Figures 2023, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea (Group)

• 2021 – Fusion Arts Fair 2021, Bucharest, Romania (Group)

• 2018 – Singular-Art, Nijmegen, Netherlands (Group)

• 2016 – Personal exhibition, University “Spiru Haret”, Romania

• 2013 – Personal exhibition, Museum of Bucharest, Romania