Ananda Nahu

Ananda's work attempts to intertwine regional aesthetics and regional icons with the aesthetics and icons of contemporary, dominant American and Western culture.

She looks for graphic styles and icons from Brazilian, Jamaican, African and North American black music and from different periods, especially the 1970s.

Her style is a mix between graphic and psychedelic elements with street art influences. The basis of her paintings is a stamping technique, which is known from the French urban manifestations of the last century.

Ananda Lustoza Nahu was born in Juazeiro, in the interior of Bahia, and grew up in Petrolina, Pernambuco (Brazil). The two places are separated by the São Francisco River, but both have Siamese-like characteristics, typical of the North-East of the country. Unfortunately, this beautiful, desert-like region is not just a scenario for tropical scenes full of color and culture. This area is also known as one of the poorest parts of Brazil.

These deep Brazilian roots and the people who don't have a fair chance in society are the greatest sources of inspiration for Ananda's visual works.

Education: Ananda's mother is an architect and from childhood she had access to professional materials to make her visual work. In addition to all this, her grandmother always collected pieces of fabric that contributed to her collages.

At a later age she took a course in lithography. This was supervised by William A. and the Graphic Design and Plastics departments, both based at the art academy in Salvador, Bahia.