Artist Umbreen Ahmad Infuses Abstraction with Gratitude
Umbreen Ahmad finds strength at the canvas.
Words by Abby L. Johnson Photos by Eric Morales
Before choosing her colors, her medium, type of brush, or tone, abstract painter Umbreen Ahmad steps up to the canvas to begin her work with a different form of expression. She begins with gratitude.
Umbreen moved to Austin in 2002 with her husband, but in her early years, she called many different settings home. After immigrating from Pakistan, her family initially landed in Las Vegas before settling in Houston. At the time, Umbreen was only 10 years old. Reflecting on this series of moves, she notes, “When you migrate and you see your parents struggle, you’re also struggling, regardless of your [age], it’s just a different kind of struggle. So, from a young age, my go to is to fall back on the blessings that are right in front of us.” She adds, “I do that with my art too. When I start a piece, I always write down things that I’m grateful for because I feel like that makes me strong.”
The practice of gratitude while painting was born while Umbreen was attending college. It offered a pathway to self-discovery in one of the most introspective periods of life. She took an art class on a whim. “My teacher was so great because [the class] was doing portraits, and I wasn’t good at it,” she admits. However, her teacher encouraged her “to do whatever was coming out. Instead of commenting on my portraits, she would say ‘I love the colors you use. You must be a really bold person.’ And I was actually pretty shy. She’d say, ‘Well, it’s in there.’” That quiet confidence is evident in Umbreen as she surveys her studio. She is graceful, poised, and eloquent: her curated, neat space itself reflecting that in an airy room with skylights and expansive white walls.
After Umbreen put her gratitude into concrete terms, the strength derived from her words of reflection led her hands. Both bold and brash, and at times, delicate and fine, her brushstrokes translate literal moments into abstract feelings that allow narratives to disintegrate under the eye of the viewer. By taking singular thoughts from her own life and breaking them down into their barest elements, Umbreen connects with universal truths of human experience and her audience becomes an active participant in creating the meaning of the piece, endless and nuanced.
Since arriving in Austin, Umbreen’s art practice and involvement in the creative community have flourished. She sold her first pieces in the city, began to participate in the Austin Studio Tour, and joined atxGALS, an all-female art collective. She thoughtfully notes, “There are so many people [in Austin] who are so generous of heart and so open-minded that they just see you. And I think that at the end of the day, if you can just see a person, that’s all they really want. It’s hard to say that out loud, like, ‘Hey, I just want you to see me for me.’ But I feel like I’m in my community here…I don’t have to prove anything.”
See for yourself.
Umbreen is a member of atxGALS, an all-women art collective based out of The Cathedral. Be sure to follow them on Instagram to keep up with their open houses and special events for a chance to see Umbreen’s work in person!
