Andhra (born Andrée-Marie Dussault, 1974) is a Canadian painter based in India since 2004. She has also lived in London, Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne, Auckland and Geneva. Before moving to India, she was editor of Swiss feminist magazine L’Emilie for five years. She now works as a foreign correspondent for Swiss daily Le Courrier on issues related to economics, environment and society. She has been painting since childhood and has been selling works since 2004. She has taken part in three solo shows in India and has participated in several group shows in Delhi and in international art events in Europe since 2006.

In form, Andhra’s works comprise a blend of ancient/contemporary and western/oriental influences. They depict traditional patterns inspired from oriental arts and crafts including textiles, carpets, architecture, mendhi, and tattoos, to which bright colours give a more western modern look. The works contain influences as diverse as moghol miniatures, Tibetan tonkas, tribal art, pop art and naïve art. Conventional norms regarding perspective, light and proportion are ignored in order to privilege more creative ways to represent.

In content, the works are figurative and have a strong narrative. At first sight, they may appear pretty and child-like because of their naïve style, overflow of activity and colours. They possess a political dimension which can be appreciated by the watchful observer. The latter will sense a challenge to conventional standards of gender and sexuality representations in contemporary patriarchal societies.

The works are undermined by a libertarian philosophy and a radical feminist perspective. Although “white” in colour, since living in India, Andhra represents her subjects as “coloured”, in shades of brown, blue, purple, red, fuchsia or green. Moreover, the mainstream equations light skin/dominant and dark skin/dominated are often reversed. Countering the trends of a fast moving consumerist society, each of the paintings is the result of a slow and lengthy process in which hundreds of hours of meticulous, intricate and meditative work are involved.