Isabel Lu (b. 1997, North Carolina) is a painter and researcher whose work explores fluidity and transformation in the body. Their large-scale, vibrant portraits incorporate ancestral and contemporary concepts across both Western and Chinese medicine, herbalism, architecture, and mythology. Their latest work focuses on blood and cycles of bleeding. Isabel’s paintings have been shown at Artfields, Ella West Gallery, the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh, and GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art. Isabel was the 2022 Durham Art Guild Artist in Residence and one of two 2023 Emerging Artists-in-Residence at Artspace in Raleigh. They’ve been invited to speak at Eastern Carolina University, Duke University, and CreativeMornings Raleigh.