Born: 1972 Tbilisi, Georgia
Year of Migration to the UK: 2000
Other name/s: Anna Steinhouse
Biography
Artist Anna Steinhouse-Kandelaki was born in Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union (now Georgia) in 1972, a descendant of Nikoloz Kandelaki, a renowned Georgian portrait sculptor, which underscores her deep-rooted connection to the arts and to her homeland. She immigrated to England during her youth, to pursue higher education, earning a Masters in Business Administration (Hons) from the University of Surrey, sponsored by the British Council Chevening Scholarship. Initially building a career in banking, after several years in the sector, Steinhouse-Kandelaki transitioned from the financial world to fully embrace her passion for art. This significant career shift, which occurred around 2012-13, led her to study contemporary portraiture at the Royal Drawing School, Slade School of Fine Art, Heatherley’s School of Fine Art and, finally, at the Art Academy, where she completed a degree in contemporary portraiture between 2015 and 2017.
The artist’s main focus in her practice is portraiture, through which she explores her subjects’ inner lives, seeking out their individual stories through a distinctive and personal lens. Elements such as colour, composition, and symbolic references are all employed in support of this aim. Steinhouse-Kandelaki’s style is grounded in a realist tradition, enriched by a sensitive and intuitive approach to character and emotion. Her use of oil paint reveals a commitment to texture, subtle modelling, and nuanced light, bringing a quiet intimacy to each subject. Portraiture is employed not merely to represent likeness, but to evoke the sitter’s inner world, often through carefully observed gesture and gaze. Compositional restraint and a thoughtful use of colour heighten the emotional resonance, while her graphite drawings show a parallel precision and softness, focusing on contour, form, and psychological presence. Overall, her works reveal a deep attentiveness to human vulnerability, expressed through a balance of technical skill and empathetic observation. Despite living in London, Steinhouse-Kandelaki’s expression is often connected to Georgia, with her compositions including architectural and sculptural motifs from Tbilisi. Steinhouse-Kandelaki also actively works on commissioned portraits. She approaches this practice as a collaborative and thoughtful process that begins with an in-depth conversation to understand the sitter’s personality, context, and expectations. This is followed by an exploratory photo session, where various lighting setups and compositional ideas are tested to shape the final vision. After refining the approach based on the initial images, a focused photoshoot is conducted to capture the definitive reference image from which the painting will be developed.
Steinhouse-Kandelaki has received international recognition and has been included in a number of group shows. In 2017, her work featured in the Royal Society of Portrait Painters' annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. The same year, she held a solo exhibition titled Home Away from Home at the Embassy of Georgia in London, where she explored themes of cultural identity and belonging through intimate oil portraits of her British Georgian family and friends. The works reflected her deep emotional ties to Georgia, revealing how personal memory and national heritage remain intertwined in the diasporic experience. Through these portraits, Steinhouse-Kandelaki invites viewers, particularly those unfamiliar with Georgia, to connect with its culture, aiming to evoke a sense of shared interest and emotional resonance. Important commissions from this period include portraits of Gyia Kancheli (2017, Belgium) and David Gigauri (2017, London). In 2018 her work featured in Diverse Portraits: A Collective, held at Burgh House & Hampstead Museum, London. Between 2020 and 2023, she developed a series titled The First Element , which was exhibited in 2023 as part of the group show, Art4us at the Gamrekeli Gallery in Tbilisi. These paintings, centered around aquatic environments, explored themes of introspection and harmony through the artist’s physical and emotional engagement with nature. Water functions not only as a symbolic origin of life, but also as a conduit for emotional depth and spiritual energy, reflecting a search for calm and renewal. The theme of water was further explored in a second exhibition in 2023: Living in the Blue, held in Lucca, Italy. Set within the Church of Santa Caterina, the show brought together ten artists whose works reflected on the elemental and symbolic power of water. Using the colour blue as a unifying motif, the exhibition explored ideas of balance and vitality, highlighting blue’s emotional range and its connection to both earthly and transcendent realms. That same year, Steinhouse-Kandelaki hosted the exhibition Reflections at her studio in London, where ten international artists examined personal and environmental themes through diverse media, including painting, drawing, and photography. Organised by the International Contemporary Artist Group, the show offered a platform for cross-cultural dialogue on how natural surroundings shape artistic expression.
Anna Steinhouse-Kandelaki lives and works in London. Her works are part of private collections in the UK and USA and across Europe and the Middle East. Her work is not currently represented in UK public collections.
Related organisations
- The Art Academy (student )
- Heatherley School of Fine Art (student )
- Royal Drawing School (student)
- Slade School of Fine Art (student )
Related web links
- ART4US
- Artavita
- Artfacts
- Artist Website
- ArtRabbit, 'Diverse Portraits'
- BIALE International Biennial in Portugal
- George Laliashvili, 'Time is Powerless to Heal Longing', Georgia Today, 10 August 2017
- James Brewer, 'Georgia in her heart: London painter Anna Steinhouse’s paean to her homeland', LSLC, 25 December 2017
- Reflections
- Saatchi Art
Selected exhibitions
- Abor Vitae (group exhibition), Casermetta San Regolo, Lucca (2023)
- Living in the Blue (group exhibition), Chiesa Santa Caterina, Lucca (2023)
- Reflections (group exhibition), Anna Steinhouse Fine Art Studio, London (2023)
- BIALE – Alentejo International Biennial (group show), Parque de Feira de Estremoz/Centro de Ciência Viva de Estremoz/Museu Berardo Estremo, Estremoz (2023)
- Art4us (group show), Gamrekeli Gallery, Tbilisi (2023)
- Sisters and Friends (group exhibition), Chelsea Methodist Church, London (2018)
- Diverse Portraits: A Collective (group show), Burgh House & Hampstead Museum, London (2018)
- The Royal Society of Portrait Artists (annual group exhibition), Mall Galleries, London (2018)
- Home Away from Home (solo exhibition), Embassy of Georgia, London (2017)
