Tuesday 30 December 2014

Pot throwing

Pot on throwing wheel
After the ceramics workshop, I had a go at pot throwing.  I found this process very frustrating as the pot's walls kept collapsing, so I soon gave up and never managed to get a pot off the wheel.

Fired clay pieces

Blind Self Portrait, Chaz Howkins, 2014, clay

Ceramic Zombie Doll Head, Chaz Howkins, 2014, clay

Ceramic zombie doll head

Before 'zombifiying'
After 'zombifying'
 I first created a doll's head out of clay and then mutilated it to make it appear zombie-like.  

Ceramics workshop

Blind Ceramic Self Portrait, Chaz Howkins, 2014, clay
Clay self portrait created relying purely on the sense of touch.

Wood workshop




The brief was to create a palette out of wood, which meant using the band saw, fret saw, drilling machine and electric sander, as well as handheld planes and sandpaper to smooth the edges.  I decided to make two small palettes instead of one larger one so that they comfortably fit the length of my forearm.  After creating the first palette (pictured on the left) I felt the shape was slightly uncomfortable, so for the second one, I inverted the groove on the right hand side so that it hugged the shape of my body.

Documenting my studio space





Photography workshop



Documenting my studio space
I hung a line of string above my studio space from which around 20 Barbie dolls hang by their necks (or feet, as some are decapitated).  I photographed them using a slow shutter speed to capture their movement and create a ghost-like effect.

Self Portrait - Docs

Self Portrait - Docs, Chaz Howkins, 2014, photograph

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Self Portrait

Self Portrait, Chaz Howkins, 2014, photograph
Photography workshop
The brief was to create a self portrait which didn't include the face in it so I decided to focus only on my hair and clothing.  My aim was to explore issues of gender by capturing the juxtaposition of long, typically feminine hair and somewhat masculine clothing.