Anika De Souza Artist Biography
Background & Education
Anika De Souza is a London-based abstract mixed-media artist specialising in calligraphic abstraction, gesture and visual language. Originally from Germany, she studied Graphic Design in Hildesheim near Hanover and trained under the acclaimed calligrapher Gottfried Pott. After a decade in graphic and design-based roles, she shifted her creative focus to painting, mixed media and calligraphic forms, developing a highly individual artistic practice grounded in both tradition and innovation.
Artistic Practice & Style
Anika’s fine art practice fuses acrylic, graphite, oil stick, spray paint, crayon and pastel to explore the expressive potential of mark-making, text and abstraction. Rooted in calligraphic traditions, her work examines the tension between control and spontaneity: letters stretch, blur and fragment, dissolving into abstraction and rendering language as purely visual form. Through layered surfaces, rich textures and bold compositions, she invites the viewer to engage with gesture, space and movement in contemporary abstract art.
Themes & Conceptual Focus
In her work, Anika explores themes of presence and absence, form and void, rhythm and silence: she transforms writing into dynamic visual experience, where the familiar becomes unfamiliar, and the viewer is drawn into an intuitive encounter with line and surface. Her approach sits at the intersection of contemporary abstraction and calligraphic mark-making, positioning her as a notable voice in the field of modern visual art and abstract expressionism.
Exhibitions & Recognition
Anika De Souza has exhibited at prominent art-fairs and open studio events including The Other Art Fair London and the Kingston Open Artist Studio. Her works are now included in private collections and continue to attract attention from collectors, curators and galleries in the UK and internationally. With a home studio based in Kingston, she is actively expanding her practice and refining her signature style of calligraphic abstraction.
Anika De Souza is a London-based contemporary abstract artist known for her expressive calligraphic mark-making and mixed-media compositions. Her work blends gesture, texture and visual rhythm, transforming written language into abstract form. Through layers of paint, graphite and pastel, she explores the boundaries between control and spontaneity, making her a leading voice in modern abstract art and contemporary calligraphy.