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

Her journey into calligraphic art began in Germany, where she studied classic scripts like foundational hand, italic, and copperplate. Rooted in tradition yet driven by innovation, her work merges past and present, exploring form, rhythm, and movement.

Inspired by calligraphers like Brody Neuenschwander and abstract artists such as Cy Twombly and Brice Marden, Anika’s work captures expression through gestural writing and bold brushstrokes. She engages with the canvas as an active space where marks, voids, and layers interact. Space plays an integral role, shaping rhythm and weight alongside her lines, as negative space becomes as expressive as the marks themselves.

Her artistic process mirrors handwriting’s fluidity, balancing spontaneity and control. She often begins with graphite, creating delicate, sketch-like marks that contrast with more forceful strokes. These scribbles and lines, reminiscent of handwriting’s cadence, establish a rhythm that echoes calligraphic traditions. By leaving areas untouched, she allows compositions to breathe, fostering a dialogue between presence and absence.

As her writing dissolves into abstraction, it prioritizes form over meaning, transforming language into a purely visual element. Letters stretch, distort, and fragment, blurring the boundary between text and image. This interplay between structure and dissolution invites viewers to engage with language on a visceral level, beyond its literal interpretation.

Working with acrylic, graphite, crayons, spray paint, and oil sticks, Anika explores varied textures and materiality. Each layer adds a new dimension, creating depth and spatial movement. Through cut-out techniques and gestural marks, she transforms the canvas into a space where movement, mark, and material merge in a dynamic dialogue, exploring the tension between intention and chance.