Artist and writer Angelika Anastasis creates work that celebrates and honours the authentic woman.
Originally from Pietermaritzburg, Angelika grew up in a small Greek community. As a child, she was always drawn to creative pursuits and spent much of her time doodling and drawing. After studying and working in Johannesburg, she moved to London where she met and married her husband. “I always had a yearning for Africa,” she admits. “I knew I wanted to return.” After the birth of her first child, Angelika and her husband moved back to South Africa, eventually ending up on the North Coast.
On returning to KZN, Angelika joined the family business, Sunshine Bread, a job she says really toughened her up. Over the years, she wrote and doodled in her free time, but it was only when she started art classes at Pascale Chandler’s studio in Glenwood, that she found a way to truly express herself through painting. “I started by painting flowers, but Pascale told me to paint who I am,” she says. “I painted a lot of proteas, and one day I put a woman’s head under the flowers and it just made sense.”
Now, Angelika’s paintings are characterised by their use of symbols and colour. She creates mixed media paintings and ceramics that seek to represent women and the layers that make up her authentic self. For each of her paintings, she writes a story, which she sticks to the back of the image. “All the stories are about a call to truth, a call to honouring. Taking care of yourself is finding your voice.” Often, people resonate with both the story and the painting, which, Angelika says, is a beautiful thing to witness. “There’s a transmission that takes place between what I felt when I was painting and then a resonance when a person sees that,” she explains.
While learning to paint, Angelika also started working on a novel but with three young children, she couldn’t find the time to complete the story. After many years of writing and rewriting, she finally published Nefeli’s Water last year. “There’s a reason for timing and you have to honour that,” she says. The novel, which is set in Greece and was inspired by her own Greek heritage, centres around the relationship of a mother and daughter and is, ultimately, about finding and speaking one’s truth.
Angelika’s book and all her paintings are about strong women. “What they really represent is the woman underneath: the authentic woman,” she explains. “The book is dedicated to my daughter and mother. The story is about holding on to the core of who you are and being brave enough to express that. We need to use our own inner voice as a compass.”
Angelika has exhibited her art both nationally and internationally, and has also published a children’s book, Thuli and the Seed of Truth, which was inspired by the work and courage of Thuli Madonsela. She says that there is a vulnerability in creating work that is honest and real, and she is constantly inspired by the feminine and its strength. She is currently working on a new body of work which is influenced by the objectification of women. “It’s essential that we begin to build a new narrative about women,” she says. “I want to address this concept through my art and writing.”
Details: www.angelikaanastasis.com;
IG: @angelika_anastasisart; [email protected]
