Kelsey Lu

Lu’s artistic practice channels intersections between visual arts, performance, healing activism and music

Biography:

Kelsey Lu is a classically trained cellist, singer-songwriter, producer, composer, poet, and
performance artist born in Charlotte, North Carolina, whose artistic practice flows comfortably at
the intersection of visual art, performance, healing, and music. In addition to their solo work, Lu
collaborates with artists across various disciplines, from musicians such as Yves Tumor, Sampha,
Florence + The Machine, and Skrillex to multidisciplinary artists such as Kahlil Joseph, Wu
Tsang, Precious Okoyomon, and Jacolby Satterwhite.

Kelsey Lu’s recent projects include composing the original score for the feature-length
documentary DAUGHTERS (Netflix/XTR), which won both the “Audience Award: U.S.
Documentary” and “Festival Favorite Award” at 2024’s Sundance Film Festival and was released
on Netflix in August 2024; the original score for Savanah Leaf’s BAFTA-winning debut feature
film Earth Mama (A24/Park Pictures), which premiered at Sundance 2023 and won the San
Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award; and starring in and composing the
original score for Janicza Bravo’s (Zola) short film House Comes With a Bird (Miu Miu
commissioned) alongside fellow actors Pedro Pascal and Natasha Lyonne, which screened at the
Venice Film Festival. Other notable works include the installation Anthem in collaboration with
cult-artist Beverly Glenn-Copeland commissioned by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, a
sound piece featured in the 2022 Venice Biennale made in collaboration with world-renowned
artist Sophia Al-Maria for her film Tiger Strike Red, a week-long performance throughout the
Metropolitan Museum of Art's Great Hall in response to Jacolby Satterwhite’s series A Metta
Prayer, an array of work for various fashion brands including Chanel, Jil Sander, and Miu Miu,
contribution to the score of the natural documentary Malika The Lion Queen, and various other
score experiences in art and fashion.

Selected Credits:: DAUGHTERS (Documentary) d. Angela Patton, Natalie Rae (2024)
EARTH MAMA (Film) d. Savanah Leaf (2023)
HOUSE COMES WITH A BIRD (Short Film) d. Janicza Bravo (2022)
MALIKA THE LION QUEEN (Film) d. Karin Slater, narrated by Angela Bassett (2021)
Commissions:: ANTHEM (Installation) collaboration with Wu Tsang, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Asma Maroof, Guggenheim Museum, New York (2021)
TARAX'SUP? (Installation) collaboration with Sophia Al-Maria & Tosh Basco, Serpentine Gallery, London (2020)
LIGHTING OF THE SAILS (Installation) collaboration with Andrew Thomas Huang, Sydney Opera House (2019)