Born in Guyana, artist Siddiq Khan’s family moved to Canada where he grew up. His artistic career began at an early age when he convinced his parents to buy him a paint-by-numbers kit. By 12 years of age he got a permit to sell his works at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in order to buy more kits. Before arriving in Santa Fe in the U.S. 12 years ago, Siddiq spent time in the interior of British Columbia and Austin, TX.
In addition to mixed media works Siddiq is also a sculptor and teaches a ceramics class at St. John’s College. He enjoys teaching because it allows him to observe and become more aware of his own process by having to verbalize techniques. Initially he took a ceramics class to get more physical with his work and to see how far he could push the medium. He utilizes ceramics in order to create a combination of painting and sculpture. The ceramic works are constructed on their sides so he never knows where their balancing points will be until they are completed. For him the process is much like drawing –but in clay. He has loose ideas about what he will make but by moving line around, the works come together organically, especially because he completes them all in one day. They take about one month to dry and then he fires them three or four times, adding colour and lines with each subsequent fire. It has taken him six to seven years to get to where he wants to be. He has moved from table top works to larger scale pieces made of wood. He uses the wood in the same manner in which he uses slabs of clay.
Siddiq’s mixed media works are also explorations in line. He begins by attending a live model drawing class once a week. Using charcoal, oil pastel and conté crayon, he draws overlapping images and figures. These drawings in and of themselves are wonderful. But they are not studies for larger works, nor are they completed works themselves. They become part of the fabric of Siddiq’s larger works on canvas. He tears these drawings up, deconstructing the body into separate entities that are sometimes barely discernable.
In his earlier works, he planned out a geometrical shape for his canvas and then from there he instinctually added etchings, drawings in oil stick, charcoal, elements of the ripped up drawings to his work until multiple layers were created. The layers are placed on canvas which is then affixed to another canvas adding to the texture of the work. He explained that he puts the drawings on canvas to contain the spontaneity and energy of the life drawings. His geometric planning has occurred less frequently and Siddiq lets the organic and instinctual process guide his work.
Though he does not have a regular routine for working, he estimates that he works in 2-3 hour stints with periodic breaks every day. It is a way of life and he loves the organic process and the chance elements that occur as a result. For him the most important thing is to keep doing the work. He is not trying to create something in order to sell it. He has been successful and had a market for his works because he is a wonderful person and is very interesting to talk to. He loves meeting people, and if they are gallerists or collectors – that is great, but building relationships with people is really what is important to Siddiq.
The artist will exhibit his recent artworks next month at the ‘Timehri Transitions: Expanding Concepts in Guyana Art’ to be held at Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba House in the U.S. The exhibition also includes eleven other international artists of Guyanese heritage. (Source: accessibleartny.com)
