ARTIST STATEMENT
"I explore the relationships between light, matter, movement, and perception through a multidisciplinary artistic practice, creating sensory experiences that blur the boundaries between media.
In a world saturated with images and stimuli, I seek to slow down the gaze and open up a space for perception that is more intuitive, physical, and emotional. My work focuses on what unfolds between the visible and the invisible, between what is represented and what is felt.
I perceive art as an indivisible language. Painting, photography, drawing, poetry, and performance are not, for me, separate practices, but rather different paths for exploring the same inquiry.
My practice builds bridges between disciplines: words made of images, pictorial photographs, living brushes, bodily music, or even a poetry of movement. Each medium transforms the one before it and opens up new possibilities for perception.
Through these multifaceted forms, I seek not so much to define an image as to provoke an experience: to reveal connections between the body and space, matter and emotion, silence and movement."
ARTIST STATEMENT
"I explore the relationships between light, matter, movement, and perception through a multidisciplinary artistic practice, creating sensory experiences that blur the boundaries between media.
In a world saturated with images and stimuli, I seek to slow down the gaze and open up a space for perception that is more intuitive, physical, and emotional. My work focuses on what unfolds between the visible and the invisible, between what is represented and what is felt.
I perceive art as an indivisible language. Painting, photography, drawing, poetry, and performance are not, for me, separate practices, but rather different paths for exploring the same inquiry.
My practice builds bridges between disciplines: words made of images, pictorial photographs, living brushes, bodily music, or even a poetry of movement. Each medium transforms the one before it and opens up new possibilities for perception.
Through these multifaceted forms, I seek not so much to define an image as to provoke an experience: to reveal connections between the body and space, matter and emotion, silence and movement."
BIOGRAPHIE
Born in 1992 in Bordeaux, Olivia Appelius discovered her artistic sensibility at a very early age through painting, which she explored as a self-taught artist influenced by her parents, who were painters, and through music and dance, which she studied at the Maurice Ravel Conservatoire. These early explorations of movement, form, colour and harmony shaped her perspective and awakened her passion for art in all its forms..
It was in Venice, during his first artistic stay there, after briefly attending the Bordeaux School of Fine Arts, that it all really began. The magic of the place, the richness of the colours and the contrasts between light and shadow, the timeless atmosphere of the floating city, as well as his discovery of the international art scene, marked a decisive turning point in his career. This pivotal moment gave rise to an artistic exploration centred on light, matter, line, movement, sensuality and the relationship between the visible and the invisible.
Over the years, Olivia has taken part in numerous artist residencies abroad, in Italy, Austria and Spain, as well as cultural trips. These international experiences serve as a constant source of inspiration, enriching her multidisciplinary and poetic approach.
Since settling in south-eastern France in 2022, she has continued to draw on this formative experience to breathe new life into her artistic practice. Inspired by the beauty of the landscapes and the play of light, her creativity flourishes through her engagement with the materials and nuances that surround her. Her exhibitions both internationally and in France bear witness to a career marked by a constant quest for a dialogue between the soul and the imagination.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1992 in Bordeaux, Olivia Appelius discovered her artistic sensibility at a very early age through painting, which she explored as a self-taught artist influenced by her parents, who were painters, and through music and dance, which she studied at the Maurice Ravel Conservatoire. These early explorations of movement, form, colour and harmony shaped her perspective and awakened her passion for art in all its forms..
It was in Venice, during her first artistic stay there, after briefly attending the Ateliers des Beaux Arts in Bordeaux, that everything truly began. The magic of the place, the richness of the colours and the contrasts between light and shadow, the timeless atmosphere of the floating city, as well as her discovery of the international art scene, marked a decisive turning point in her career. This pivotal moment gave rise to an artistic exploration centred on light, matter, line, movement, sensuality and the relationship between the visible and the invisible.
Over the years, Olivia has taken part in numerous artist residencies abroad, in Italy, Austria and Spain, as well as cultural trips. These international experiences serve as a constant source of inspiration, enriching her multidisciplinary and poetic approach.
Since settling in south-eastern France in 2022, she has continued to draw on this formative experience to breathe new life into her artistic practice. Inspired by the beauty of the landscapes and the play of light, her creativity flourishes through her engagement with the materials and nuances that surround her. Her exhibitions both internationally and in France bear witness to a career marked by a constant quest for a dialogue between the soul and the imagination.
CURICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2015 / 2022
Artistic residencies and immersion programmes in Europe (Austria, Italy, Spain), exchanges with artists and curators
2015
Ateliers of Fine Arts (5 moths), Bordeaux, FR
2010/2014
Bachelor’s degree in Musicology, Information & Communication, University of Bordeaux, France
1998/2009
Training in Music and Dance, Maurice Ravel Conservatoire, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France
Artistic practice developed from childhood within a family of painters, largely through self-teaching.
EXHIBITIONS
2026
Emergences
sensibles, paintings and photographs, La Maison de l'Eau cultural centre, Allègre-les-Fumades, France (duo)
2025
Chemins
interdits, salle Grenette, Aubenas, France (group exhibition)
2024
Festival
de photographie Bessèges, serie of photographs, Bessèges,
FR (collective)
2019
Monochrome, photographie, The Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, ST (collective)
2018
Mare nostrum, photographs, Arsenal of Amalfi, IT (virtual)
2016
Private viewing, paintings, Churhaus St. Stephan, Vienna, AT (solo)
Wide Eye, paintings, Suppan Contemporary Gallery, Josephsplatz off-space, Vienna, AT (group)
Justmad7, paintings, Madrid, ES (group)
2015
Simply O, a collection of paintings, Spazio Arterra, Treviso, Italy (solo exhibition)
PERFORMANCES
2025
Corps d'Empreinte, "Tableaux Vivants" performance, presented as part of the exhibition Chemins interdits, Grenette Hall, Aubenas, France
2024
Between Two Suns, "Tableaux Vivants" performance, open stage, municipal hall, Molières, FR
PERMANENT COLLECTION
Paul Gulda’s private collection, AT
arterra Museum, AT
Fernando Galan Collection, ES
Carlo Bilotti Museum, Villa Borghese Collection, IT
PRIZES & AWARDS
22/23
Luxembourg Art Price, Certificate of Artistic Merit
20/22
MIFA, Moscow International Foto Award, Honourable Mention
2019
14th Pollux Prize, Honourable Mention
2018
Premio Antica Republica d'Amalfi, Artetra, Certificate of Artistic Merit
15/22
Association Academia Arterra, prizes and residencies in Austria, Italy and Spain
PUBLICATIONS
2026
Midi Libre, articles on the exhibition and the staged reading *Émergences sensibles*, Maison de l’Eau Cultural Centre, Allègre-les-Fumades, FR
2018
Artetra Magazine, feature on the Mare Nostrum photography project as part of a call for artistic proposals, IT
2016
Artes Magazine, feature on the My Mother project, ES
PERFORMANCES
2026
Sensitive Emergences, a performance reading as part of the exhibition *Sensitive Emergences*, La Maison de l'Eau Cultural Centre, Allègre-les-Fumades, France
2025
Corps d’Empreinte, a Tableaux Vivants performance, presented as part of the Chemins interdits exhibition, Grenette Hall, Aubenas, France
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Paul Gulda’s private collection, AT
arterra Museum, AT
Fernando Galan Collection, ES
Carlo Bilotti Museum, Villa Borghese Collection, IT
PRICES & AWARDS
21/22
Luxembourg Art Prize, Certificate of Artistic Merit
20/22
MIFA, Moscow International Foto Award, honourable mention
2019
14th Pollux Prize, honourable mention
2018
Antica Repubblica d'Amalfi Award, Artetra, Certificate of Artistic Merit
15/22
Academia Arterra Association: awards and residencies in Austria, Italy and Spain
PUBLICATIONS
2026
Midi Libre, articles on the exhibition and the staged reading *Émergences sensibles*, Maison de l’Eau Cultural Centre, Allègre-les-Fumades, FR
2018
Artetra Magazine, feature on the Mare Nostrum photography project as part of a call for artistic proposals, IT
2016
Artes Magazine, feature on the My Mother project, ES
PARUTIONS
CURICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2015 / 2022
Artistic residencies and immersion programmes in Europe (Austria, Italy, Spain), exchanges with artists and curators
2015
Ateliers of Fine Arts (5 moths), Bordeaux, FR
2010/2014
Bachelor’s degree in Musicology, Information & Communication, University of Bordeaux, France
1998/2009
Training in Music and Dance, Maurice Ravel Conservatoire, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France
Artistic practice developed from childhood within a family of painters, largely through self-teaching.
PORTFOLIO LECTURES
2022
Rencontres d'Arles Festival
EXHIBITIONS
2026
Emergences
sensibles, paintings and photographs, La Maison de l’Eau cultural centre, Allègre-les-Fumades, FR (duo)
2025
Chemins
interdits, Grenette Hall, Aubenas, FR (group)
2024
Bessèges Photography Festival, series of photographs, Bessèges, FR (group)
2020
14th Pollux Prize exhibition,
photography, FotoNostrum gallery, Barcelona, Spain (group exhibition)
2019
Monochrome, photographie, The Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, ST (collective)
2018
Mare nostrum, photographs, Arsenal of Amalfi, IT (virtual)
2016
Private viewing, paintings, Churhaus St. Stephan, Vienna, AT (solo)
Wide Eye, paintings, Suppan Contemporary Gallery, Josephsplatz off-space, Vienna, AT (group)
Justmad7, paintings, Madrid, ES (group)
2015
Simply O, a collection of paintings, Spazio Arterra, Treviso, Italy (solo exhibition)