Umayal Annamalai
Umayal Annamalai, a native of Chennai, India is a contemporary expressive artist who lives in Charlotte, NC. Studied to be an architect, a beginner's painting class at CPCC opened her eyes to the beautiful world of art. Self-taught, Umayal extensively uses textures and mixed media in her artwork.
Growing up in India amongst the bright colors and culture influenced her to express her cultural connections in her art. Art helped her heal and slowly climb out of the abyss. Ever since she has strived to spread hope and positivity through her artwork. She employs bright and bold colors to help people heal their suppressed negative emotions and find their voice.
Umayal has exhibited her works at various exhibitions including juried art shows at the Charlotte Art League. She also has won a grant from the city of Charlotte to create artwork to spread awareness about COVID-19 in her native language Tamil. She has also worked on collaborative projects like the "Re-imagining Charlotte" initiative. She won an honorary award in South end arts juried exhibit. She performed in Boom Charlotte 2022 about Kolam - The painting prayer
Umayal now facilitates workshops and programs to guide others to play more and connect with their inner genius and tap in to their creative super power.