About

In short:

Olivia Louvel is a French-born British composer, multidisciplinary artist and researcher whose work is presented through sound recordings, sound art installations, video art and live performances.

Her research draws upon a long-standing exploration of the voice and an increasingly hybrid practice at the intersection of sound and sculpture. The outcomes of her practice include applying principles of sculpture to carve the voice of Barbara Hepworth, creating generative sound murals ‘voice reliefs’ with miniature speakers, 3D printing her voice for a series titled 'VoiceScape’, and exploring the acoustic relationship between voice and sculpture within Lukas Kühne’s site-specific sculpture, ‘Tvísöngur’, in remote Iceland. 

In 2025, Louvel was awarded a PhD in Arts and Communication by the University of Brighton for her thesis titled ‘A hybrid encounter, a concrete voice: on the interplay of voice and sculpture,’ following cross-disciplinary research in Fine Art and Sound departments. She coined the term ‘voice sculpture’. Louvel has published on the field of sound art in influential journals, including Leonardo and Leonardo Music Journal (MIT Press), Divergence Press (CeReNem, University of Huddersfield), and Organised Sounds (Cambridge University Press). She also served as a reviewer for Leonardo.

She won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Sound Art at the Ivors Classical Awards 2023 for ‘LOL’, a sonic intervention delivered through the public address system of Middlesbrough’s CCTV surveillance network for Middlesbrough Art Week 2022. Her resounding of a Barbara Hepworth archival tape, ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ (2020), premiered on Resonance Extra and was subsequently presented as an audio-visual version at The Hepworth Wakefield in 2021 and Towner Eastbourne in 2023.

Her research has received support from the Arts Council of England on several occasions, as well as from the Henry Moore Foundation for an artist residency at the Skaftfell Art Centre in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.

Her music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and New Music Show, as well as BBC Radio 6’s Freak Zone.

She is a member of Sound Art Brighton and the Hepworth Research Network.

Additional.

Installation works include: ‘LOL’ (2022), a site-specific sonic intervention reflecting the state of political affairs in Britain, presented through the public address system of Middlesbrough’s CCTV surveillance network; ‘Doggerland Channels’ (2022), a generative sound relief based on the ancient land that once connected Britain to the continent, which premiered at Phoenix Art Space for Sound Art Brighton and was reinstalled at Middlesbrough Art Week, 2023;  and ’The Whole Inside’ (2019), a generative sound mural exploring the violent misogyny of Incels­­­­, featured in the ‘Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology: Future Now.’

Through her extensive research on Barbara Hepworth, also known as Hepworth Resounds, she produced ‘The Sculptor Speaks’ (2020), an electroacoustic resounding of a Barbara Hepworth archival tape, which premiered on Resonance Extra and was subsequently presented as an audio-visual version for Barbara Hepworth Art & Life at The Hepworth Wakefield in 2021 and Towner Eastbourne in 2023. Additionally, the album ‘SculptOr’ consists of nine compositions based on Hepworth’s writings. Her research on resounding the voice of Barbara Hepworth led her to deliver a talk for the Yorkshire Sound Women Network and the Hepworth Research Network (2021). 

Louvel’s work often explores socio-political issues and women’s voices, using sound and voice as a documentary tool to unearth narratives. 

Other compositional and audiovisual works include: ‘doggerLANDscape’ (2023), a video art piece inspired by the submerged forest of Doggerland; ‘Not A Creature Of Paper’ (2019), a composition inspired by Louise Labé for the avant-garde ensemble Juice Vocal, which premiered at Kings Place; ’Data Regina’ (2017), a multimedia suite exploring the writings and life of Mary Queen of Scots through an interactive digital platform funded by the Arts Council; and ‘Afraid of Women’ (2016), an audio-visual piece that raises awareness for Rojava, the autonomous region in Northern Syria.

Notable performances include a UK tour presenting a headline audio-visual set of ‘Data Regina’ for ‘Synth Remix’ (2018), curated by Benjamin Tassie, and a performance with the Mi.Mu gloves at ONCA gallery for a gesturally based performance art installation for an audience of one (2018). She opened for artists such as Semiconductor and Eartheater at De La Warr Pavilion (2019), Japanese avant-garde artist Phew at Iklectik (2016), Planningtorock at Earsthetic Festival, Brighton Dome (2013), and Recoil for various shows on the European Selected tour (2010).

Awards and grants include: an Ivor Novello Award for Best Sound Art at the Ivors Classical Awards 2023 (‘LOL’); the Henry Moore Foundation Research and Travel Grant (2022); a nomination for an Ivor Novello Award in the Sound Art category at the Ivors Composer Awards 2020 (for ‘The Sculptor Speaks’); a Longlist selection at the Aesthetica Art Prize 2021 (for ‘The Whole Inside’); an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice Award (2021), the Norman Cook Digital Music and Sound Arts Breakthrough Award at the University of Brighton (2018); Arts Council of England Grant for the Arts (for ‘Data Regina’, 2016 and ‘Beauty Sleep’, 2014); Prix Ars Electronica shortlist (for ‘ō, music for haiku’, 2013); and the Qwartz Album Award at the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards 2011 (for ‘Doll Divider’).

Her commissions involve a diverse range of organisations and events at both art galleries and music venues, including: APT Gallery, Towner Eastbourne, Middlesbrough Art Weekender, Phoenix Art Space, The Hepworth Wakefield, Hepworth Research Network, Yorkshire Sound Women Network, ACM SIGGRAPH, Chapter Arts Centre, King’s Place, De La Warr, Classical Remix, Ikon Gallery, Anthony Burgess Foundation, Spirit of Gravity, Nawr, BBC Hall, ONCA gallery, Brighton Digital Festival, Iklectik, CTM, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Le Cube, Earsthetic Festival, Brighton Dome, Optical Sound, Ososphere Festival.

Her work has been featured in The Wire, The Quietus, Electronic Beats, Fact Mag, and Electronic Sound, among others. She was interviewed by Stuart Maconie for his BBC Radio 6 programme about her ‘compelling sculpture-inspired work’ on Barbara Hepworth. Louvel has received airplay on radio programs such as BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and New Music Show, BBC Radio 6’s Freak Zone, Resonance, RTE Lyric FM’s Nova, Radio Eins’s Elektro Beat, NRK’s Harald Are Lund, RTVE Radio 3’s Fluido Rosa, RTVE Radio 3’s Atmosfera, RAI 3’s Battiti, and France Musique’s La Matinale. In 2014, she produced a mix for Electronic Beats /EB radio.

She has been associated with the label Optical Sound Records and Fine Arts, run by French artist Pierre Beloüin, through several collaborations: the release of ‘Lulu in Suspension’ (2008); the sonic cruise Echos Flottants (2009) at the Ososphere Festival with Paul Kendall and Black Sifichi; and the exhibition Acoustic Cameras (2017) at Le Cube with Paul Kendall.

Louvel has been an active member of female:pressure, the international network of female, transgender and non-binary artists in electronic music and digital arts. She participated in the compilation supporting Pussy Riot’s freedom (2013) and the female:pressure campaign–curated by Antye Greie-Ripatti–to raise awareness for Rojava (2016). Additionally, she has assisted as a data collection helper for the female:pressure FACTS gender survey that quantifies the gender distribution of artists.

In the educational field, she mentored the Electric Youth Ensemble for Audioactive (2016-2017) and Sounder, a student collaboration across the Universities of Brighton, Sussex and Bern for Sound Art Brighton (2021-2022). She lectures in Fine Art as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Brighton.

Press

Interviews:

Radio/ audio-visual interviews:

Ivors Academy, ‘The Ivors Classical Awards 2023: Olivia Louvel Winners Speech’, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW6ww7aF7oE

The Hepworth Wakefield, ‘Olivia Louvel: The Sculptor Speaks’, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNFqqQz1ldo

BBC Radio 6, ‘Stuart chats to digital sound artist Olivia Louvel about a new compelling sculpture-inspired work’, 2020, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dzs9

Classical Remix, ‘Synth Remix - Interview with Olivia Louvel’, 2018, https://vimeo.com/296959992

Online & print features:

Frank P. Eckert, ‘Motherboard: Januar 2024’, Groove, 2024, https://groove.de/2024/01/23/motherboard-januar-2024/

University of Brighton, ‘Brighton PhD student wins Ivor Novello Award, University of Brighton, 2023, https://www.brighton.ac.uk/news/2023/brighton-phd-student-wins-ivor-novello-award

Johny Lamb, ‘Olivia Louvel - doggerLANDscape’, The Quietus, 2023, https://thequietus.com/articles/33625-olivia-louvel-doggerlandscape-review

Jimmy Nsubuga,  ‘Shoppers left spooked after 'Boris Johnson sounding' voice is randomly played in town centre’, Yahoo News, 2022, https://uk.news.yahoo.com/boris-johnson-middlesbrough-speakers-cctv-113806873.html

Aesthetica Magazine, ‘Olivia Louvel - The Sculptor Speaks’, 2021, https://aestheticamagazine.com/profile/olivia-louvel/

Fifteen Questions, ‘Fifteen Questions Interview with Olivia Louvel. A Solitary Introvert’, 2021, https://www.15questions.net/interview/fifteen-questions-interview-olivia-louvel/page-1/

Antonio Poscic, ‘Olivia Louvel - SculptOr [Hepworth Resounds]’, The Quietus, 2020, https://thequietus.com/articles/27903-sculptor-hepworth-resounds-olivia-louvel-review

Aurelio Cianciotta, ‘SculptOr’, Neural, issue 66, 2020, https://neural.it/2020/08/olivia-louvel-sculptor/

Deborah Nash, ‘On site and installation: Olivia Louvel The Sculptor Speaks’, The Wire, issue 440, 2020, p.90.

Joanne Baker, ‘The Doctor Who theme and beyond: female pioneers of electronic music’, Nature, vol. 563, no. 7732, 2018, pp. 470-471.

Hannes Liechti, ‘Sampling Stories Vol. 14: Olivia Louvel’, Norient, 10 February 2018, https://norient.com/blog/sampling-stories-vol-14-olivia-louvel/

Abi Bliss, ‘Game of Thrones. A multimedia suite by composer Olivia Louvel digs deep into the psychic warfare between two 16th century British Queens’, The Wire, issue 396, 2017, p.14.

DJ Pangburn, ‘Multiple Media: Olivia Louvel On Music, Art & 16th Century History’, The Quietus, 2017, https://thequietus.com/articles/22355-olivia-louvel-interview

Electronic Beats, ’Is the Islamic State ‘Afraid of Women’?’, 20 February 2016, https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/is-the-islamic-state-afraid-of-women/

Luke Turner, ‘Interview: Olivia Louvel’, The Quietus, 2015, https://thequietus.com/articles/16563-olivia-louvel-simon-fisher-turner-remix