2025 BARBARA HAMMER GRANT FINALIST

KYA LOU

Kya Lou (b. San Diego, CA) is an artist and filmmaker based in Los Angeles whose work explores color, spiritual metadata, and complicated truths. She received her BA in Art from the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture in 2018. After running the color grading studio COLOURED ONLY (2017–2021) and working as a colorist on projects including Grace (2024) and BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (2025), Lou has shifted her focus to directing. In 2024, she co-created an 18-channel video installation about choreographer Alvin Ailey for Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art with Josh Begley and curator Adrienne Edwards. Her most recent commission, a four-hour video installation of found footage for Derek Fordjour’s exhibition Nightsong, is on view at David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles through October 11, 2025. Lou is the recipient of the 2025 BlackStar Pitch award and a 2026 Modern Ancient Brown Foundation Fellow. She is currently developing her solo directorial debut. Learn more at their website.