Lu Colby

Education

• MFA, Louisiana State University
• BFA, Murray State University

Expertise

• Printmaking
• Bookbinding
• Sculpture
• Installation
• Textiles

Biography

Lu Colby is a mixed-media artist based in Murray, Kentucky. She earned her MFA in Studio Arts from Louisiana State University in 2023 and holds a BFA in printmaking and sculpture from Murray State University (2019), where she currently works as a printmaking instructor and Art Technician. Her work has been exhibited across the United States, most recently at Emporia State University in Emporia, KS, and in the c9: Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition at the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art.

Colby's practice spans a range of media and centers on personal narratives of womanhood and domesticity in contemporary American society. Deeply inspired by domestic items such as doilies, household linens, and other traditional homewares, she uses these materials as both medium and metaphor. Her work often incorporates elements associated with “women’s work,” including needlecraft and domestic color palettes, as a way to explore and challenge cultural expectations placed on women. By repurposing familiar materials like bed sheets, curtains, and everyday objects, Colby creates tactile, layered narratives that invite viewers to reflect on their own experiences and assumptions surrounding gender, labor, and the home.