Bio

Fawzia Khan is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Hopkins, Minnesota. Born in Lagos, Nigeria to Pakistani parents, she emigrated to the U.S. at the age of twelve. A former obstetrician-gynecologist, she left medicine to raise a family. Khan went back to school in 1999 and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA, with an emphasis in sculpture, in 2005. 

Khan is an active member of two national multiethnic artist collectives, the Habibtis and the Paglees, the Interfaith Artists Circle in the Twin Cities, and Form+Content Gallery, Minneapolis, MN. She has served as a juror for the Minnesota State Fair Arts Competition, participated in several artist talks, and helped develop a public art program in Hopkins, MN. She curated her first exhibition Between the Stripes, Under the Stars at St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN in 2022.

Khan received a 2024 Creative Support Grant and a 2020 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and was a 2022 McKnight Fiber Artist Fellowship finalist. Her work is included in many private collections as well as the collections of The Warehouse, Milwaukee, WI, the City of Hopkins, MN, the Loppet Foundation, Minneapolis, MN, the Donald M. Fraser Early Childhood Development Center, Minneapolis, MN and the Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center, Minneapolis, MN. She was also one of the featured artists on the Twin Cities Public Television program MNOriginal.

Artist Statement

My practice as a sculptor and multidisciplinary artist includes working with a variety of media and techniques, and choosing what best suits my concept.  My work is best described as social commentary, examining issues that reveal humanity’s frailties and foibles to engage viewers and to open space for dialogue and reflection. Since graduation, I have expanded my repertoire of woodworking and metal casting to include digital drawing, screen printing on fabric, hand embroidery, digital embroidery, quilting, weaving and some video. I am interested in what unites us. My hope is that the work sparks a deep conversation amongst the viewers through which they see the “other’s” point of view and in doing so acknowledge our common humanity. This creates an opportunity for understanding and resolution. My work reflects my lived experience as an immigrant woman of color, a physician and a mother.