Inside a Berlin studio where drawings become embroideries, sculptures become systems, and an artist transforms himself into an entire creative corporation.
Berlin has long been a city that attracts artists searching for freedom.
Its history, architecture, and creative energy have made it a destination for people interested in experimenting with new ways of thinking and making. Yet even within Berlin’s vibrant art scene, the studio of Niko Abramidis & NE feels distinctly unique.
Walking through the space, visitors encounter embroidered creatures, cryptic metal machines, sketchbooks filled with ideas, and a practice that seems to operate simultaneously across multiple realities.
For Abramidis, art is not simply something he creates.
It is an entire system.
The artist refers to himself as both an individual and an entity. The “& NE” attached to his name is not just a stylistic addition. It represents a structure he created to organize his ideas, projects, and creative investigations.
Rather than viewing himself solely as a person, Abramidis describes his practice as a small corporation where different departments focus on different bodies of work.
One department handles embroidery.
Another focuses on sculptural machines.
Others develop concepts, drawings, and future projects.
The artist, the CEO, and the workforce all exist within the same creative ecosystem.
It is an idea that might sound playful at first, but it reveals something deeper about the way Abramidis approaches art.
Complex ideas require structure.
By creating an internal organization for his practice, he allows multiple investigations to evolve simultaneously without losing focus.
In a world increasingly dominated by large corporations, Abramidis sees artistic production as equally important. His self-created entity becomes a way of placing art on equal footing with the forces that shape contemporary life.
The concept is both humorous and serious.
Much like his artwork.
Long before developing this system, Abramidis was already drawing.
As far back as he can remember, sketchbooks were a constant companion. Drawing was never simply a hobby. It was a way of understanding the world.
Initially, that interest led him toward architecture.
He spent a year studying architectural design in Munich, believing it might be the natural extension of his love for drawing. Yet something felt missing.
Architecture provided discipline and structure, but it lacked the freedom he was seeking.
Then he discovered the art academy.
Unlike the rigid schedules of architecture school, the academy offered a radically different environment. The building remained open day and night. Students could wander into studios late in the evening, encounter unexpected conversations, visit exhibitions, or find themselves in the middle of a party.
The experience changed everything.
For Abramidis, the academy represented a place where people could define themselves rather than follow predefined paths.
That freedom became central to his artistic identity.
Ironically, it was the discipline of architecture that ultimately helped him succeed as an artist.
Architecture taught him the importance of deadlines, structure, and daily practice. Long nights building models and completing projects prepared him for the realities of sustaining a creative career.
When he later entered the open-ended environment of art school, he brought those habits with him.
While many artists struggled with the complete absence of structure, Abramidis created his own.
That self-imposed discipline remains visible throughout his practice today.
A typical day in the studio can vary dramatically depending on the project.
Some mornings begin with coffee and immediate work in the metal workshop, welding and fabricating sculptures for hours at a time.
Other days are quieter.
Those are the days he enjoys most.
He sits with sketchbooks, scans drawings into his computer, reviews old ideas, and begins connecting fragments that may have been created years apart.
The archive plays a crucial role in his creative process.
Every drawing is scanned and cataloged.
Whether it begins in a sketchbook, on a napkin, or on a loose sheet of paper, it eventually enters a growing digital database.
Over time, patterns emerge.
A drawing made five years ago may suddenly connect with one made yesterday.
Individual sketches begin forming families.
Those families become series.
The series become exhibitions.
What appears spontaneous is often the result of years of accumulation and reflection.
This process reveals one of the most fascinating aspects of Abramidis’s practice.
Ideas are rarely invented on demand.
Instead, they are collected.
While traveling, sitting in cafés, or wandering through cities, he fills sketchbooks with observations, drawings, and fragments of thought.
Italy has become one of his favorite places for this process.
There is something about the atmosphere of Italian coffee bars that stimulates creativity. The movement of people, the sounds of espresso machines, the rhythm of daily life, and the surrounding architecture all become sources of inspiration.
Armed with a sketchbook and a coffee, he allows ideas to emerge naturally.
Only later, back in the studio, does the work of interpretation begin.
The studio becomes a place where collected ideas are organized, connected, and transformed into physical form.
That transformation often moves through multiple mediums.
Drawing remains his favorite.
A simple pen and sketchbook continue to provide the most direct connection between thought and image.
Yet Abramidis is equally interested in what happens when those drawings leave the page.
Embroidery, sculpture, metalwork, and installation allow ideas to enter physical space.
They become tangible.
They become real.
One of his current projects, titled New Heraldics, expands this fascination.
Inspired by traditional heraldry and embroidered banners, the series introduces a cast of original creatures that inhabit a personal mythology.
These characters feel ancient and contemporary at the same time.
Part fantasy.
Part cultural symbol.
Part speculative future.
Through embroidery, Abramidis reimagines historical systems of representation for a new era.
The creatures are no longer symbols of kingdoms and noble families.
Instead, they belong to a universe of his own making.
As the series develops, the works are becoming larger and more ambitious. Individual figures are beginning to interact with one another, creating narratives that unfold across increasingly expansive compositions.
The result is a body of work that feels both deeply personal and surprisingly universal.
Perhaps that combination explains why his dream project extends far beyond the walls of a gallery.
Asked what he would create without limitations of budget or logistics, Abramidis describes an extraordinary vision.
An art zeppelin.
A floating creative vessel traveling between cities, connecting art academies across Europe.
Instead of airports and schedules, artists would travel according to wind currents and conversations. The zeppelin would dock at cultural institutions, carrying ideas, exhibitions, and creative exchanges from one destination to another.
Part artwork.
Part transportation system.
Part utopian experiment.
It is exactly the kind of project one might expect from an artist who sees no boundary between imagination and reality.
Throughout the conversation, Abramidis repeatedly returns to one central idea.
Think big.
For young artists, it is the advice he wishes he had understood earlier.
Not because ambition guarantees success, but because creative possibilities often begin with the willingness to imagine something larger than what seems immediately achievable.
His own career reflects that philosophy.
What began as sketchbooks and drawings has evolved into a multifaceted practice involving sculpture, embroidery, machines, archives, mythology, technology, and speculative futures.
Each project builds upon another.
Each drawing becomes a possibility.
Each possibility becomes a new world.
Inside his Berlin studio, surrounded by ideas both realized and waiting to emerge, Niko Abramidis & NE reminds us that art is not simply about producing objects.
It is about creating systems for imagining what comes next.
To learn more about Niko Abramidis & NE, visit nikoabramidis.eu and follow his work on Instagram at @entitynetwork.
About Tarik Talk Podcast
Tarik Talk Podcast is an international arts and culture podcast hosted by Tarik Mendes, featuring conversations with artists, curators, museum professionals, gallery directors, collectors, designers, and creative leaders from around the world.
With more than 200 episodes across 50 seasons, Tarik Talk takes listeners inside artist studios, museums, art fairs, galleries, and cultural institutions across more than 10 countries, uncovering the stories, ideas, and inspirations that shape contemporary creative practice.