CAMILLE WALALA: 2021

Camille, tell me about your journey with MTART and the fantastic Marine Tanguy so far?

My journey with MTART has been a short one as of now. I’m very excited to see where the path leads and to how my working relationship with Marine can evolve. I’m excited by the future!

We can't wait to see everything you achieve together. Your work is so exuberant, saturated, and joyful to me. Tell me a bit about your artistic process, and how each work comes to be?  

A lot of my work is site specific. I love to get inspired by the space the work will sit in. The surrounding areas can often contribute to the selection of my shapes or certain colours. 

The biggest factor for me is ensuring that my colour palette brings a new lease of life and engages people. 

it absolutely does. and, Where does your inspiration for each piece come from? Do you feel it’s an internal or external place? 

I want to say that it comes from both internal and external places. Its quite a difficult process to describe as its a mixture of various things that all finally contribute to a finished article. I have had a strong influence artistically from a young age, via my parents showing me the works they liked throughout my childhood. This has given me a sensibility towards areas of art and design that I find interesting. In turn these elements contribute as the external influences in my work. However, there is an internal force that I cannot really put so plainly into words. This is the voice of my creativity and where all the magic comes from. 

What do you hope people reflect on when observing your work? How do you hope they feel? 

I want my work to be accessible to anyone. I feel that there is a lot of exclusivities in the art world that make people feel intimidated. I grew up in an environment where art was part of my day-to-day life, a lot of people are not so fortunate and why should they not have access to these things. My work has a simplicity to it, in which I want to make people feel happy, in unexpected places. That’s why I think my work is accessible to many. 

You’ve collaborated with some incredible names and brands, including Lego! What are you working on now and what/ who would be your dream collaboration?

I have a few things that are in the pipeline.

I’ve been approached by a few institutions to create some curated exhibitions, which is new territory for me. I will be working with Bonham’s to create a Pop Art exhibition and sale in November this year. I’m also very excited to say that I will also have some works in the exhibit. My work will be hung alongside some of my heroes from the Pop Art world, like Keith Haring and Lichtenstein, which is quite humbling!

I’m also working with Koestler’s to help curate an exhibit at the South bank centre. The previous years have been curated by the likes of Grayson perry, Sarah Lucas and Anthony Gormley.

The work comes solely from British Prisons. It was a highly emotional and challenging experience. Picking 250 artworks from a 3000 strong piece submission was something I had never done before and was an incredibly eye opening and beautiful experience. 

That’s why I think my work is accessible to many.  

Everything sounds incredible. I can't wait to see these imagined. Camille, Tell me a bit about your studio? Do you have any rituals you practice in your studio? Do you listen to anything while you work? 

My studio is on the 7^th floor of one of tallest industrial buildings in East London. The view is pretty much the reason I wanted to take the space. It’s incredible to be able to see so much of the city in one viewpoint There is so much sky, it brings a certain level of calm to my day to day. 

I find it inspiring to be there. 

Could you please pick one of your works or projects and tell me a little bit about it. 

My most recent exhibit “Putting Things In Perspective” that was shown at The Box Museum in Plymouth is the start of a new direction for me. 

The piece is an energetic dance of contrasting forms, vivid colours, soft lines and organic patterns. The sculpture’s 20th-century references range from the cubist paintings of Fernand Léger, whose boldly simplified treatment of modern subjects has caused him to be regarded as a forerunner of Pop, to the monumental sculptures of Roy Lichtenstein, notable for his use of bold strong black lines and 3D patterns..

Devised through a process of collage – adding and taking away shapes until the perfect balance is reached – the Putting Things In Perspective is the start of a new direction for me. The symmetries and geometrics of my past work have acquired a softer edge and a more nuanced colour palette.

With your large-scale works, do you always begin in the same place? How do you know a work is complete? 

Yes, I would say that I always start in the same place. Even though every piece is different I certainly have a method that I follow. I know when is complete when I can stand back, look at it and say hand on heart that I like it.

Who are your favourite artists and their instagrams? 

Kevin Umana@kevinumana

 Erin O’Keefe@erinokeefeart

Morgan Blaire @mmorgannbblairr

 Kate Isobel Scott @kateisobelscott

 Just to name a few! There are so many!

Some quick fire questions now:

One book everyone should read?

Any books from Roald Dahl 

One place everyone should go?

Mexico

Favourite film of all time? 

Paris, Texas

A quote everyone should hear at least once?

“Children Know something that most people have forgotten” – Keith Haring.  

One song that should be added to the She Curates playlist? 

Move Your body Marshall Jefferson From the Paris os Burning OST. - On repeat all of lockdown.