Anika De Souza is a visual artist and calligrapher based in London.

Her journey into calligraphic art began during her studies in Germany, where she explored the timeless elegance of classic scripts like foundational hand, italic, and later, copperplate writing. Rooted in tradition yet driven by innovation, Anika’s work merges the past with the present, weaving a narrative of form, rhythm, and movement.

Inspired by calligraphers such as Brody Neuenschwander, Yves Leterme, and Thomas Ingmire, as well as abstract artists like Cy Twombly and Brice Marden, Anika’s current body of work explores form, rhythm, and movement through line and space. Her pieces capture the essence of expression through gestural writing and bold brushstrokes.

Anika's artistic process is defined by gestural movements that mimic the fluid, instinctive qualities of handwriting and calligraphy. At first glance, her marks may appear erratic or chaotic, yet they are intentionally crafted to capture the dynamic energy and rhythm of writing. Each gesture is a deliberate response to the moment, reflecting a balance of spontaneity and control.

She often starts with pencil or graphite, embracing the raw, sketch-like quality that contrasts with more forceful, layered strokes. These scribbles and marks, reminiscent of handwriting’s cadence, create a visual rhythm that echoes classic calligraphic traditions. For Anika, the act of mark-making is as significant as the finished piece, turning the process into an exploration of movement, texture, and form.

As her writing dissolves into abstraction, it becomes almost illegible, encouraging viewers to focus on its visual presence rather than its literal meaning. Letters stretch, distort, and fragment, transforming language into something purely visual, where form takes precedence over content. This tension between text and image invites viewers to engage with language on a visceral, rather than intellectual, level.

Anika’s materials—acrylic, modeling paste, calcium carbonate, and occasionally lime wash—provide the foundation for her explorations. She layers these surfaces with marks made from pencil, graphite, crayons, and oil sticks, each adding a new dimension to the tactile experience.

Through cut-out techniques, Anika crafts new text that reflects her inner emotional state. Scribbling plays a crucial role in loosening her hand, allowing gestural movement and emotion to flow freely across the canvas. This practice transforms the surface into a space where the personal and the abstract merge, creating a dialogue between movement, mark, and material.