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KAOS returns

KAOS returns

The Kingston Artists Open Studios is back this May. We find out more and meet one of the artists

Main image: Anika De Souza’s Dripping Fibres

Kingston Artists Open Studios takes place this month, with local artists, makers and designers displaying their work in their homes, workshops and at venues such as Dorich House and FUSEBOX. Open Studios 2024 will take place on 11 – 12, 18 – 19 and 25 – 26 May, from 11am – 5pm. There is a brochure here which lists all of the 24 locations across Kingston and Teddington as well as offering an overview of all the artists.

Anika De Souza is one of the artists taking part. Anika specialises in calligraphic art and works with different materials, including Japanese Kozo paper, canvas and wooden boards, embracing the tactile nature of her craft, using lime wash and stamped letters, acrylics, gouache, and inks – often leaving the process visible with the idea that preserving the work’s raw authenticity is an integral part of the art itself.

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Anika’s journey into calligraphic art began during her studies in graphic design in Germany, where she delved into the timeless elegance of classic scripts such as foundational hand, italic and later copperplate writing. Influenced by calligraphers like Brody Neuenschwander, Yves Laterme and Thomas Ingmire, and abstract artists such as Cy Twombly and Robert Motherwell, Anika’s current body of work is about exploring form, rhythm and movement with line and space; and capturing the essence of expression through gestural writing and bold brush strokes. Her art revolves around interconnectedness, as shown through her series “A thousand fibres connect us with the past,” which reflects on the way experiences shape identity.