Does It Matter? Leicester Exhibition

After my Does It Matter? Exhibition in Loughborough, I was approached by Trade Sexual Health, a Leicester based LGBT sexual health charity, and asked to bring my exhibition to their office.  As the exhibition took place in their office space, it was a one night event so as not to be too disruptive to their work.  The exhibition was highly successful as it drew in a more diverse crowd compared to the Loughborough exhibition which was attended mainly by Loughborough students.

Collaborative Photography - An Exploration Of Androgyny

Androgyny 1, Chaz Howkins and Katya Veleva, 2016, photography

Androgyny 2, Chaz Howkins and Katya Veleva, 2016, photography

Androgyny 3,  Chaz Howkins and Katya Veleva, 2016, photography

My girlfriend and I collaborated to create this portrait series which explores androgyny.  I put the images in black and white so that the viewer wasn't distracted by hair colour or skin tone while attempting to identify the subject.

Photo collages

Ambiguity Collage, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo collage

I created a series of physically manipulated photo collages to represent a conflict of identities and to present the viewer with an ambiguous image in an attempt to frustrate the viewer as they try to identify the gender of the subject.

Double Exposures

Chadlotte 1, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

Chadlotte 2, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

Chadlotte 3, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

Chadlotte 4, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

I wanted to revisit creating double exposures, this time using darker backgrounds so the skin tones stand out more rather than fading into their surroundings.  I used more recent imagery so that Chad's shorter hair could juxtapose Charlotte's long hair.

Distorted Bodies

Distorted Bodies - Wide, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

Distorted Bodies - Line, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

Distorted Bodies - Float, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

I used a photocopier to distort these images of myself dressed as Chad.  The intention was to create confusing imagery which distracts the viewer from immediately questioning the gender of the subject.

Concrete Workshop Outcomes

Concrete Fluidity, Chaz Howkins, 2016, concrete

Concrete Fluidity, Chaz Howkins, 2016, concrete

I carved the gender fluidity symbol into a block of styrofoam so that the concrete would cast with the symbol raised on its surface.  Gender fluidity is often dismissed as an identity, so I wanted to cast the symbol in concrete to create a sense of permanence and validity.

Sculpture Maquette

Middle Finger Maquette, Chaz Howkins, 2016, clay

I created this maquette using clay and may venture into creating a life size version using body casting.  The expressive hands cover where the breasts should be in an attempt to express a sense frustration from being restricted by your physical form.

Manipulated Double Exposures

Fluidity Symbol, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation and paint

After creating a postcard sized drawing of this image, I felt it would work well on a larger scale so I splattered paint over an A3 print out of the image.  I feel it was more successful as a drawing due to how the symbol becomes lost within the colour, so my next step is either to paint the symbol over a black and white print out or to draw image again on a larger scale.

Chad Photo Shoot

Dramatic Chad, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

Filtered Chad, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

I used a honeycomb flash filter to create these dramatic self portraits.  Though these are successful images and a useful tool in exploring my own gender fluidity, they lack a sense of purpose as the subject appears too authentically male for their gender to be questioned by the viewer.

Chad Photo Shoot

Open Chad, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

Undressing Chad, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

The aim of these images was to create a sense of ambiguity by exposing the centre of the subject's torso to further the viewer's questioning of the subject's gender.

Chad Photo Shoot

Chad On Chair, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

I felt that using a chair as a prop would enable me to create some more masculine poses to add to the effect of gender as performance, which I think worked successfully.

Chad Photo Shoot

Sideboob Chad, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

Chest Tape, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

Chad Frontal, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

I used the continuous lighting studio to create some dramatic self portraits as Chad.  For these images I wanted to masculinise my body my taping down my breasts and covering the nipples.  I think the headless image is particularly interesting due to the sense of ambiguity created by the masculine pose and covered nipples.
I plan to expand on these images in a future shoot in which I will bind my chest or pose fully topless to create a greater sense of ambiguity and gender fluidity.

Submissions for International Postcard Exhibition

Fluidity, Chaz Howkins, 2016, pencil and fine liner

Identify, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photographic collage

I created these two 4x6" pieces to submit to the Surface Gallery Exhibition.  'Identify' is a smaller recreation of my collages as I thought they were quite successful and wanted to experiment with scale.  I created 'Fluidity' from a photo manipulation of myself as three characters of varying genders; I originally intended to write 'gender is a social construct' over the drawing, but felt this made the piece too literal.  I instead opted for the gender fluidity symbol as I felt this was more subtle.