André van der Wende was born in Balclutha, New Zealand. He received his BFA in Painting and Photography from Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand (1987), and his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from the University of Connecticut, Storrs (1993). 
André is also a certified Yoga instructor, and an established arts writer/critic having contributed nearly 300 reviews and features for numerous publications over a 20 year period. He is currently a contributing writer for Provincetown Arts magazine, and is represented by The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts.