Metal Workshop Outcome

Jerry, Chaz Howkins, 2016, metal

I decided that I wouldn't be able to create something which was relevant to my practice during the electric welding workshop, so decided to create a giraffe out of metal.  After snapping the blade of the electric saw, I used an angle grinder to cut the metal pipes to the right size.  I then used the electric welder to attach the pieces together and the angle grinder to create the patterns on he body.

Metal Workshop

Impaled, Chaz Howkins, 2015, metal and Barbie parts

After learning how to weld, I decided to create a sculpture using Barbie parts and metal rods.  As I rarely work in 3D, I encountered a few problems whilst putting the piece together.  I didn't plan out its structure as throughly as I should have, meaning it didn't stand up how I imagined and I had to attach an extra rod between the base and the body of the doll.  Also the piece is quite back-heavy so appears to be close to falling over.  However, I feel I learned from these issues that I sometimes work needs to be planned out in more detail rather than being created spontaneously.  I think the resulting outcome is quite successful as the innocence of the doll is destroyed by its disassembly and the juxtaposition of the harsh metal.

Metal Workshop

Welding Experiment, Chaz Howkins, 2015, metal

After not being able to attend a metal workshop in semester 1 due to the tutor being ill, I caught up on the workshop at the start of semester 2.  The first task we were given was to weld two pieces of metal together.  I feel that welding is a useful skill and the colours produced on the metal made the outcome more visually interesting than expected.