2018-2020 I started these colour works by spontaneously drawing out horizontal and vertical lines in thin willow charcoal on bright white grounds. I could then erase and redraw the lines up or down, to the left or right, adding or subtracting until a free-flowing feeling was attained. I painted each shape in multiple layers, adjusting tone, contrast, saturation and hue using thin coats of oil colour. For me it expressed an inner vibration, as if I were an instrument playing out a natural rhythm.
Night Cities, oil on canvas paintings, 2005-2007
Colour Sensations, oil on linen paintings, 2018-2019
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Sunrise" 2007 oil on canvas 48 x 60 in. / 122 x 152 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Night City 4" 2007 oil on canvas 42 x 54 in. / 107 x 137 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Young Metropolis" 2007 oil on canvas 63 x 70 in. / 160 x 178 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Night City" 2007 oil on canvas 63 x 70 in. / 160 x 178 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Metropolis Rising" 2007 oil on canvas 24 x 33 in. / 61 x 84 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Night City 3" 2007 oil on canvas 42 x 54 in. / 107 x 137 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Winter Morning" 2006 oil on canvas 63 x 70 in. / 160 x 178 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "City Lights 6" 2006 oil on canvas 36 x 40 in. / 91 x 101 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "City Lights 4" 2005 oil on canvas 22 x 25 in. / 56 x 64 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "City Lights 3" 2005 oil on canvas 22 x 25 in. / 56 x 64 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Night View 4" 2005 oil on canvas 22 x 25 in. / 56 x 64 cm
JOSEPH SIDDIQI "Night View 5" 2005 oil on canvas 22 x 25 in. / 56 x 64 cm
One of my favourite activities during this period was to walk from my studio to the top of Mount Royal, overlooking downtown Montreal, where I would watch the sunset and the city lights emerge before heading back to the studio to spend the night painting. I worked from imagination and memory to develop a sense of contrast between the closed-in feeling of the city streets and the vast open space of the sky and distant horizon.
