Profile - Aqeel
Being born in an artistic family, it's not surprising that Aqeel took to colour and brushes easily at a young age. Over the years he has expressed himself in various mediums - tackling themes from landscapes, murals to portraits. Of late, music and dance seems to have acted as a stimulus to his works. For Aqeel's artistic impulses are triggered to play with forms and colour emanating from the emotions resulting from listening to music (primarily Indian classical instrumental) or watching dance (Indian classical). The visual vocabulary, therefore, captures this mood - sombre, subtle, scintillating - each work draws from the vortex of emotions to find its way in semi-abstract imagery on the canvas. Aqeel relates these feelings with different colours - his palette is vibrant with bright reds, browns, purple, blues, yellows. The dazzling vividness of the morning sun is in bright colours denoting life, while the eerie darkness of the night is in a deep midnight blue conveying 'blues'. The swirls, twirls, curves, spins, circles and crescendo come alive in rhythmic patterns in soft and bright shades reflecting the mood of the composition/melody as envisioned by Aqeel. The outlines of lively 'sculpturesque' dance 'poses' have an energetic feel. The abstract portrayal of Nataraja - the lord of the cosmic dance, has all the fury within highlighted in different shades of purple with strokes drawn with vigour. The work of the 'musician with a sitar' has a 'Cubist' feel about it.