Mike Loftus is a representational painter whose preferred medium is oil on canvas. He has also worked with acrylics, charcoals and oil pastels on paper, generating drawings and paintings that are as expressive as his works on canvas. Mike describes his work as visual metaphors for spiritual experiences that often aim to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. The characters he paints, and the interactions orchestrated between them, are meant to reflect a desire in these characters to achieve a spiritual confluence of purpose and regret. While the themes are not always obvious, these compositions are generally about the struggle for serenity. The representational nature and the occasional use of religious iconography in Mike's paintings are meant to emphasize that much of his work is ambiguously spiritual. Many of the characters in the work are spiritually deprived rather than whole; they are in search of balance, cohesion and meaning. The use of texture and color, of which many are often blended in a single brush stroke, add to the perception that the characters in these pieces are worn down by their search for purpose. Movement and shape are also used to convey a sense of balance and, implicitly, emotion; further demonstrating that these pieces are representational and are not intended to depict any actual event. Mike Loftus has been working and exhibiting as a painter in Omaha, Nebraska, for over 15 years. Born in 1970, Mike graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 1994. He later earned a degree in Special Education from the same university. In addition to painting and exhibiting in galleries throughout the region, Mike has been working as a certified special education teacher since August, 2001. EDUCATION:
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