Cara Tolmie

A Radiophrenia live commission for Lost in Transmission.

Recorded live at the Andrew Stewart Cinema, Gilmorehill, Glasgow, 11^th June, 2026.

Cara Tolmie spends much of her time oscillating between contexts as a vocalist, visual artist, performer, pedagogue and researcher. Her works have been performed and exhibited widely at art galleries, music festivals, biennials, conferences and in the public space – both as solo presentations and collaborative projects. 

Her practice at large investigates the complexity of the bind between the voice and body – of how voice can traverse internal and external realities of both the sounder and listener and how it can research various qualities of embodiment, both pleasurable and disorienting. Within this she often explores performative techniques that dis/reorient the listening relationship between the singer and their audience through live uses of defamiliarised, mesmeric and repetitive vocalisation. This investigation also extends into expanded installations that include large-scale textiles and sounding metal sculptures. In these installations, such forms create integrated listening architectures that shape how voice resonates through space, inviting audiences to encounter sound not only as performance but as a material, sensorial and spatial experience.

Cara is currently finishing a PhD in Critical Sonic Practice at Konstfack, Stockholm titled ‘Internal Singing – Sounding Through Vocalbody Disorientation’. She collaborates regularly with Rian Treanor, Stine Janvin, Susanna Marcus Jablonski, Em Silén and Julia Giertz.