Camille Walala creates exclusive paintings to tackle creative poverty with Make Bank

Launched on 31 March, the partnership between artist and designer Camille Walala and Make Bank has seen 18 exclusive and original paintings go up for auction. Proceeds from the sale will help tackle creative poverty across schools and give disadvantaged young creatives the tools and resources they need to enter and thrive in the industry.

Camille, known for her large-scale and explosively colourful paintings, is an ideal beacon of positivity who pairs perfectly with Make Bank. Famous for finding inspiration in community and collaboration and elevating moods and sparking joy, she's the ideal artistic force to give the next generation a helping hand.

Titled "Forget Everything You Know", the 18 paintings in her exclusive Make Bank series are an original take on her work. Completed during the summer of 2021 in France, they are a conscious deconstruction of her usually very measured and disciplined paintings.

"My main goal was to create pieces of work without having a finished aesthetic in my head," Camille explains. "I wanted to change elements of my signature style as I felt it was starting to become stagnant.

"By using automatic painting, I could let go and not feel too precious about the results. I surprised myself with many compositions that I loved! This exercise has led to further study of specific ideas that had emerged.

I'm so pleased to be supporting Make Bank. I think the work they do is excellent! All children should have access to a creative outlet in life. It shouldn't just be for the privileged."

Paintings in the series are being sold with a price tag of £1,000 each, and the auction represents a rare chance to own a Camille Walala original in a style that doesn't come along every day.

"Working with Camille on this project has been amazing," adds Kirsty Thomas, founder of Make Bank. "We have been blown away by her positivity and generosity – it's a dream project for us, and the impact on the pupils we work with will be truly life-changing.

"We set up Make Bank to tackle poverty and barriers to learning in creative subjects at the secondary school level. Pupils not only struggle to access the materials they need to succeed but can also find it difficult to themselves represented in the creative industries. We want our industry to be accessible, representative and welcoming."