BIO
Anika De Souza is a London-based abstract mixed media fine artist originally from Germany. She studied Graphic Design and spent over a decade working in the advertising industry before transitioning to a fine art practice centred on painting and material exploration.
Working primarily with acrylic, graphite, oil stick, and dry media, De Souza develops layered compositions through instinctive mark-making and structural restraint. Her practice incorporates a cut-out text technique, harvesting fragments from existing texts and embedding them within the surface of the work to create concealed narrative elements. While informed by calligraphic traditions, language in her work is treated as material rather than message, dissolving into rhythm, texture, and spatial tension.
De Souza’s work explores the balance between articulation and silence, presence and absence, allowing space to function as an active component within the composition. She lives and works in Kingston Upon Thames. Her work has been exhibited at The Other Art Fair, Kingston Open Artist Studio, The Circle Gallery, and TAP Gallery (Turner Art Perspective Gallery), and has been featured in Times and Leisure.
CV
EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Studied Graphic Design with a focus on Calligraphy, which laid the foundation for her ongoing exploration of language, form, and material. Worked in advertising before becoming self-employed as a Photographer and Calligrapher while raising a family. This continuous creative practice evolved naturally into her current work, which bridges calligraphy, abstraction, and material experimentation.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 The Circle Gallery, Sunninghill
2025 TAP Gallery, Essex
2025 KAOS (Kingston Open Art Studios), The Rose Theatre
2025 The Circle Gallery, Sunninghill
2024 KAOS (Kingston Open Art Studios), The Rose Theatre
OPEN ART STUDIOS & ART FAIRS
2025 The Other Art Fair, October, London
2025 Kingston Open Art Studios, Kingston Upon Thames
2025 The Other Art Fair, March, London
2024 The Other Art Fair, October, London
2024 Kingston Open Art Studios, Kingston Upon Thames
2023 Kingston Open Art Studios, Kingston Upon Thames
2022 Kingston Open Art Studios, Kingston Upon Thames
Publications & Bibliography
2024 Time and Leisure — KAOS Returns
2023 Yearbook of lettering #1, Slanted Publisher UG, Karlsruhe, Germany
2023 Typism Book nine, Finesse Press 2022, Sydney, Australia
2022 Typism, Book eight, Finesse Press 2022, Sydney, Australia
2020 The Calligraphy Ideas Book, Alison Starling Publisher, Lyndsey Gribble, Toronto, Canada