Liviu Mocan

Liviu Mocan (born 1955) is a Romanian contemporary Christian sculptor, poet and visionary, whose works, which blend creative sophistication and unwrought contours, capture the momentum where the divine intersects with the mortal, revealing eternal truths and principles.

Liviu Mocan was born and grew up in the village of Cara, Cluj county, which is positioned in western-Transylvania. His parents, Valer and Ana Mocan were devoted Christian believers, which conveyed him a rich legacy of Christian principles and values early in his life. These legacies guided his philosophy of life and therefore grew to be the essence of his work.

Liviu Mocan was trained in the art of sculpture in Cluj-Napoca, a city with consistent contribution to Romanian culture throughout the country’s history. He enrolled in the Romul Ladea Art High School, where he graduated from at the age of twenty (in 1975). He carried on his university studies at the Academy for Visual Arts, Cluj-Napoca, from which he graduated in 1991. Shortly after he became artist in residence at Anderson University and the Mississippi College in the USA, where he continued developing his unique artistic personality and the profundity of his artistic composition.

Liviu Mocan is married to Rodica, who is Lecturer at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca Romania. Together they have three children: Emma Teodora, Paul Anghel and David Timotei.

He was awarded a number of national and international distinctions, among which: “Ioan Alexandru Pize for Fine Arts” (2005, The Cultural Association Alumar, Bistrita, Romania); First prize for metal at the International Exhibition “Ars of Fire” (2001, Apollo Galleries, Bucharest); Nomination for “Romanian Professional Fine Arts Prize for Sculpture” (2000); First prize at the competition for the Memorial dedicated to the Martyrs of the December 1989 Revolution (1999, Cluj-Napoca City Council, Romania); Blackhorn Gallery Prize (2000, Liverpool, UK); Second place at the competition for the monument of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1998, Cluj County Council, Romania); “Romul Ladea Prize” (1992, Small Sculpture Biennale, Arad, Romania), Honorable Mention (1992, Billy Graham Centre, Wheaton, USA)

best known characteristic works

• The Seeds
• The Shot Pillars

The Shot Pillars on Union Square in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, commemorates victims of shootings in that location of demonstrators against the Ceausescu regime in December, 1989.

• Decalogue

Series of works

• Altar (1983–1999)
• Abortion (1994–1997)
• Attitudes (1980–1985)
• Between crucifixion and flight (1976–2009)
• Bezalel (1997–2010)
• Bride and groom (1981–2010)
• Bird (1987–2010)
• Butter Lamp (1989–1997)
• Child (1995–2004)
• Communions (1998-1990)
• Decalogue (1994–2008)
• Dialogue (1989–1999)
• Eyes (1992–2009)
• Fish (2995-2009)
• Gates (1977–1995)
• Great Spirits (1977–2010)
• Harlequin (1989–1998)
• Hiob und seine Freunde (1992–1994)
• Hope (2002)
• Hypostases (1976–1990)
• Individual studies
• Interweavings (1987–2004)
• Jesus (1992–2006)
• Le Royaume des enfants (1995)
• Little transparent islands (1991)
• Living Principle (1991–1992)
• Man and God (1987–1999)
• The Martyrs (1988–2001)
• Mother (1986–2005)
• Miorita (1985–1996)
• Mine (1974–2004)
• Monumentalia (1980–1999)
• Planet earth (1993–2010)
• Pillars (1994–2004)
• Prayer (1979–2005)
• Rivers (1991–1992)
• Sebastian (1995–1996)
• Seeds (1983–2010)
• Seeds from ruins
• Shape with water pedestal (1992)
• Shot pillars (1999–2003)
• Spirals (1987–1993)
• Stained glass (1992–2005)
• The book with pearls (1997–2004)
• The fortress and the river (1992–2010)
• The Good Shepherd (1985–2000)
• The Hand (1988–2010)
• The Horn of Abundance (2009)
• The Ladder of Jacob (1997–2010)
• The Lamb (1990–1997)
• The Mirror (2009)
• The Mountain and his Heart (1987–1998)
• The Poet
• The Rain (1989–1997)
• The Sculptor (1996–2005)
• The Wall (1994–2005)
• The Way of the waters (1989)
• The Woman (2005–2010)
• Trinitarian Communions (1982)
• UBB rectors (2004)
• Various works (1968–2007)
• Vertical libraries (2009)
• Wells
• Wings (1977–2003)
• Yoke (1996–2004)

• Long Beach Press Telegram Mar 25, 2010

Liviu Mocan on his work: “When my hands touch the marble or the granite or the wood, When my hands deepen in soft clay, I touch God’s hands. God’s hands are there waiting for me. I feel them, I try to see, I try to listen… This is how, resculpting His sculptures, I tie myself, day by day, to the Universe. This is how, resculpting His sculptures, I understand, day by day, how inadequate I am. I am a sculptor, I am a sculpture. I call myself in the way I was named: Liviu Mocan.”