Mircea Lacatus was born in Romania (Transilvania). He started studying art at an early age at the Fine Arts Academy in his hometown. He continues his studies at the National University of Fine Arts in Bucharest, which he graduates in 1989 with a diploma in sculpture, restoration and pedagogy. After graduation, because of political events, he moves to Vienna, Austria, where he lives and works for 22 years. During his Viennese years he also worked as a free lancer artist for the Vienna Opera.
Starting already in his high-school years until present ML had numerous personal and group exhibitions throughout Europe. He has also been regularly invited to participate to prestigious international symposiums in countries such as Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Israel, India, and Japan. Presently he lives in Huntsville, AL, and in the past three years he has been a guest artist on the faculty of University of Alabama in Huntsville and Oakwood University. Also he was featured in several group exhibitions in regional art museum, as well as personal exhibitions at various private galleries. He holds an art studio at Lowe Mill, Huntsville.
“His sculptures display a wide variety of techniques. Not only are his works technically well executed, they are especially strong conceptually. Simple creations of ordinary stone are transformative and serve in his quest for rediscovering and finding expression in the “sacred” in our daily lives.
His sources of inspiration are the legends and the great myths of mankind. Working within the long respected tradition of the surrealistic juxtaposition of disparate forms to create new meaning, Mircea takes the effort further in blending the unique forms, historically associated with very different belief systems, creating beautiful and believable statements of remarkable clarity. That being, that although we may be separated by historical time and physical distance, all human beings share a few common universal beliefs: that of love, family, and beauty. He transfigures these philosophical concepts through traditional means (chisel and stone), giving his sculptures an air of timelessness while being archaic and futuristic.” Glenn Dasher, sculptor and dean of fine arts, University of Alabama in Huntsville.