Category: Visuals
Country: United States

About

Ameena Khan is an artist who works with a variety of media. Her work is inspired both by her religious convictions and by nature: Islamic calligraphy and other religious imagery are a central part of many of Ameena’s pieces, while more abstract works reflect her fascination with the natural world of north-central Florida, where she grew up. She often incorporates metal objects and yarn into acrylic painting to add texture and dimension to her pieces.

Muslim Women in the Arts, a network of artists, featured one of Ameena’s works entitled He is Not Me. Another work, We are not He, garnered a great deal of attention at the 2nd Annual International Muslim Artists Exhibition. The piece consists of an outer layer with an image of a “terrorist” surrounded by slanderous epithets for Muslim and Arab people and an inner layer that requires the viewer to lift up the first one to reveal outlines of individual Muslims on a background of multiple colors representing the diversity of the world’s Muslim population. The inspiration for We are not He was the planned Quran-burning that was to take place in Gainesville, Florida, where she lives. ¹

Ameena’s nature-inspired paintings may not have the same political messages, but they are painted thoughtfully and with a moral in mind. Becoming Dragons, for example, is an acrylic and oil painting that inspires reflection with its calming blue hues and curved forms.  For Ameena, the reflection is on the story of a Chinese legend about a koi that swam up a waterfall and became a dragon.  “Like the Koi,” says Ameena, “we too can meet challenges with determination and strength, and in doing so, be magnificent.” ²

[1] “Artist Series: Ameena Khan,” Muslim Women in the Arts.

[2] ibid.