Kelsey Lu Reimagines Renaissance Women

Kelsey Lu

00:36

Foreign Car

Kelsey Lu

Group posed in ornate room beneath large tapestries, with a director pointing during a shoot.

play video

Expand gallery

Person in red outfit posing in front of red sports car, with group seated on stone steps.

Film crew in a flower field, with camera rig over two people, framed by branches.

- Overhead view of dancers posed on stone steps beside a red sports car.

Making the music video “Foreign Car” was an international affair.

Project name

Foreign Car

Collaborators

Vincent Haycock

Maeva Berthelot

Ib Kamara

Nicolai Niermann

A24

Products used

Dropbox

More info

Less info

Born and raised in North Carolina, Kelsey Lu grew up surrounded by art and music.

Her mother was a pianist, her father a percussionist, and she was playing the cello by the time she was 9. Lu eventually moved to New York where she became a singular voice in experimental music, collaborating with renowned artists Solange, Sampha, Blood Orange, Kelela, and many others.

‍

To make the music video “Foreign Car,” Lu teamed up with veteran filmmaker and creative director Vincent Haycock and A24. Inspired by Renaissance paintings, they traveled to France for the shoot. Their goal? Subvert how women were portrayed in classic works of art from the period.

“Renaissance painters, women specifically, would use symbolism that was making fun of the male master painters of their time. I wanted to play with those images—with the bodies of men and myself being the powerful one.”

00:36

Foreign Car

Kelsey Lu

play video

Before and during the filming of “Foreign Car, ”Lu, Haycock, and the A24 team worked in Dropbox to craft the concept across disciplines and time zones and then execute flawlessly. It was a pivotal tool to keep their collaboration flowing.