Impala's Artist Spotlight 🎨 Meet Camille

Hello Camille! First and foremost, tell us a little about yourself and your story - have you always wanted to be an artist? What does your journey look like to get to where you are today?
Hi! Well, I learned to draw, when small, from an exceptional teacher, the painter Bénédicte Charpentier.  Then, I chose to study art and fashion in Paris and Milan, Italy. There, I won the Next Generation della Camera de la Moda Contest, which gave me the opportunity to hold my fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2012/2013. In 2015, I was finalist to the Institut Charles Perrault’s Prix Graphique awarding children illustrators. I have been published in The Alchemist Magazine and Out of Step’s « Enchanted » book, amongst others, and my work has been exhibited in several galleries worldwide.

With the path that I had, I now draw artworks where the world of fashion design and aesthetics are really present.

I mostly draw melancholic young girls with big sorrowful eyes and ears. This is because they refuse to grow up and to become women with everything implied with that experience in our modern world: they do not want to be seen as sexual objects if they ever became full-grown women with womanly shapes. They also protest against the strong, independent woman archetype. They only wish to remain fragile and delicate girls. In a word, they do not care about expectations. A great attention is paid to their clothes, which are the reflection of their personality.

 

Walk us through your creative process for the Naiad boards. Did you start with sketches, mood boards, or something totally unexpected?
I created these Naiads during the Mermay challenge, on Instagram and Facebook. I simply wanted to create like royal naiads from different part of the globe. As always, everything starts with an idea and a sketch.

 

They are two royal naiads, princess naiads. Wen has been seen around the Pearl River in China, and Marie is currently swimming in The Seine near Paris.

 

I paint in my atelier, at home. Always when it’s quiet and with some music in my headphones :)

 

And I’m so happy, too! Such an honor!!

Well, I don’t have anymore collabs in the near future, but my dream would be a collaboration with a fashion house or to create a book cover!