Lineart

Zombie Barbie - Colouring Book, Chaz Howkins, 2017, fine liner on paper

A lineart drawing created to be published in a colouring book by the Curtin Illustration Club.  A challenging drawing to create as I am usually inclined to shade and add tone or colour.

Barbie Ascot Hat

Credit: The Daily Mail Online

I attended Ladies Day at Ascot and decided to create my own hat for the occasion.  The creation featured three of my zombified Barbies from my 'corruption of childhood innocence' project alongside seven headless, unclothed Barbie dolls attached to a plain black base with red ribbon.  The zombified Barbies wore smaller toy horses in their hair to act as fascinators, to go with the theme of Ascot.

Barbies are often viewed as an unrealistic ideal of the socially constructed standards of beauty for women.  Women at Ladies Day are expected to present themselves very properly to meet these standards of beauty.  My intention of wearing this hat at Ladies Day was to subvert the expectations of women's beauty.  The dolls represent a sense of corrupted childhood innocence as children grow up with these dolls and these ideas of what beauty is and as they grow older they realise how impossible these standards are to meet.  The bloodied dolls represent the lengths some women will go to to make themselves beautiful.

There are strict rules for clothing at Ladies Day and unfortunately my hat did not meet their criteria due to it 'promoting a brand', being 'gimmicky' and 'inappropriate' due to the nude and disfigured dolls.  This meant I was not allowed to wear the hat inside the gates of the event, which was very disappointing.  However several photographs approached me outside the gates and asked for photos of the hat, meaning it was features in several online news articles.

The Daily Mail

The Sun

Online Nigeria

The World Times

Iltalehti (Finnish)

Gender dysphoria

Dreamer, Chaz Howkins, photograph and pencil, 2015

This image portrays Barbie's sense of gender dysphoria as she longs for more muscular 'masculine' arms.  I think it puts a humorous spin on a somewhat serious issue, making it quite light hearted.

Transition series

Transition 1/7 (Disconnection), Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Transition 2/7 (Dysmorphia), Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Transition 3/7 (Haircut), Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Transition 4/7 (Testosterone), Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Transition 5/7 (Bulking Up), Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Transition 6/7 (Post-Op), Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph 

Transition 7/7 (Top Surgery),  Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

I created this photographic series to document the transition of Barbie from female to male, starting with his sense of dysphoria in his female body and finishing with having had top surgery and being in a fully male body.  I felt it was important to document the process of the transition to shut down the idea that transgender people wake up one day and decide to have a sex change and highlight that transitioning is a long and complicated process.

Larger doll head

Half & Half, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated doll bust

I wanted to create a piece similar to my before and after transition photo comparison without using photography, so created a male vs female doll using a larger doll bust.  I think the piece is fairly successful in its subtlety, though I could have done more to manipulate the body on the male side.

Gender Dysphoria

Longing, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photo manipulation

This photo is a simplistic portrayal of gender dysphoria as the doll stares at himself in the mirror, not recognising himself in the body he was born into.

Body Crossing

Arms, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

I wanted to experiment further with the crossing of Barbie and Ken's bodies.  The open shoulder socket and differing skin tones make the arms look rather unnatural, but I think there is potential in the idea of Barbie longing for more muscular arms so may take this idea further.

Body Crossing

Body Crossing, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

For this image I balanced a Barbie head on top of Ken's body, creating an interesting juxtaposition of Barbie's dainty features against Ken's muscular body.  Perhaps the body should have be topless to exaggerate this effect.

Before and After

Comparison, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photo collage

The image contrasts before and after shots of the transgender doll to expose how dramatically the doll has changed.

Transgender Barbie

Transdoll, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Transgender Barbie

Binding Barbie, Chaz Howkins, photograph, 2015

I decided that I wanted to change the focus of my work from 'corruption of childhood innocence' to gender identity.  While using Barbies as my subject matter for the majority of last year's work, I never got around to creating the gender queer Barbie I planned to.  I thought creating a transgender Barbie would be a good way to link the two themes together and give me a starting point for exploring gender identity.

Photograms

Sexual Motions, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photogram

I tried to create a sense of motion by moving the dolls around between exposures to create different levels of light and shadow, I feel this was quite successful but could be taken further by moving the dolls more dramatically.

Clusterfuck, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photogram

I then used this idea of motion to create a more abstract image by moving doll parts around so their shadows overlap.

Photograms

The Dress, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photogram

Zombiegram, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photogram

I cancelled my photography workshop and instead had an induction to the darkroom so that I could create a series of photograms.  I felt that the use of black and white in extreme contrast would emphasise the sinister feel of the dark subject matter.  I think these two images in particular are quite striking due to their simplistic nature and composition.

Death Of Childhood Continued

Childhood Torn Apart, Chaz Howkins, 2015, assemblage on board

I went on from creating the silhouette paintings on collaged backgrounds by taking this idea further and painting on material collaged on board.  I planned to leave the piece at the painted stage but felt it was rather uninteresting, so I decided to collage further by adding doll limbs, clothing and chunks of doll hair.  This turned the piece into more of an assemblage piece as it was now three dimensional.  The scattered limbs and hair give the piece a broken, disconnected feel, as if to represent a childhood which has been torn apart.

Manipulated Barbie Dolls For Sale

Red Barbie For Sale, Chaz Howkins, 2015,
 spray painted Barbie in doll's packaging

Black Barbie For Sale, Chaz Howkins, 2015,
 spray painted Barbie in doll's packaging

Zombie Barbie For Sale, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated Barbie in doll's packaging

I decided to place some of my modified Barbies inside a doll's original packaging to make it seem as if they are being sold to children in this state.  They are all quite sinister and inappropriate for children making them stand out in the packaging.  The zombie dolls could realistically be sold as toys for older children, however the doll juxtaposes the labels of the packaging which brands it a 'fashion doll' in its tattered clothing.

Screen Printing Workshop

Screen Print Series, Chaz Howkins, 2015, screen prints

Minimal Zombie, Chaz Howkins, 2015, screen print

I found the screen printing process to be quite time consuming and frustrating at times, though I feel my outcomes were quite successful.  The image I used of a zombie Barbie works well as the ink adds a dark, gritty feel to it, which when juxtaposed against bright backgrounds creates quite a bold image.

Larger Zombie Barbies

Zombie Barbie Head, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated Barbie doll bust

Zombie Barbie Bust, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated Barbie doll

I decided to revisit my creating of zombie Barbies, however this time I used larger doll busts so I could pay full attention to the facial features.  The harder plastic was more difficult to melt and manipulate, however the larger surface area meant I could incorporate more detail.  The size of the heads makes them seem more lifelike, creating a greater sense of unease for the viewer.

Red Barbies

Red Barbie, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated Barbie doll

Untitled, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

I wanted to experiment with spray painting the dolls in other colours, I chose red so that they appeared bold and eye catching.

Further Manipulated Barbies

Untitled, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Red-ish Barbies, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated Barbie dolls

I used poster paint to colour these dolls instead of spray paint, which gave a more uneven, flakey coverage.  This made them appear less perfect and therefore further from their original form.

Bloody Face Barbie

Bloody Faced Barbie, Chaz Howkins, 2015, manipulated Barbie doll

I wanted to created a piece in which Barbie appears to be forcing a smile through her pain, so I represented her pain quite literally by smearing my own blood on the doll's face.