About
'Art is fundamental to human expression" - Phylicia Rashad
Meet the artist
Peace, I’m Anika, an artist, published illustrator, graphic designer, and educator born in Brooklyn, NY. I am a lover of color, pattern and a good game of scrabble!
As a child, I used to love going to the Hallmark store to look at the cards and stationary, but I never saw images that looked like me. I remember asking my father why there were no cards for our holidays and his response was “Do For Self”!. In other words, I would have to create it myself. Before #representation became a thing, I was creating what I wanted to see. You wll see that most of my work is of Black women and Black Muslim Women because we deserve to be seen, our stories deserve to be heard and no one can do it justice like one of us.
I have over 25 years of design experience, working with businesses, organizations, conferences and events throughout the country. I have been blessed to create my own line of coloring books, greeting cards and other items as well as illustrate children’s books.
As an artist, I seek to create images that UPLIFT, INSPIRE & EMPOWER.
You can see new work and upcoming projects on my Instagram.
To collaborate with me or inquire about services, hit the contact page.
"Creativity is intelligence having fun" - Albert Einsten
The creator of Got Justice?
In 2016 after hearing the news of Philando Castile’s death, I created a piece called “Got Justice?”.I drew a black woman with an afro and I filled it in with the names of people killed by the police. I even added Eleanor Bumpurs who I remember being killed in New York as a kid. I never forgot her name. I decided that would be at the bottom… “We should know their names”
It was a very visceral response to yet another murder of a black person by the hands of the police. It was literally my feelings for all to see and I shared it online.
An online organization took my image, cropped my name off of it, replaced it with their logo and shared it. The rest, they say is history. I woke up the next morning and it was all over the place with someone else’s logo on it! Thankfully my family and friends began tagging me to make sure I got credit and slowly I began reclaiming my work. Not before my lawyer had to send some cease and desist letters mind you! It has been duplicated numerous times and put on various products for sale. There is a version of just the names of women. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right? Hmmm.