UKYA City Takeover

Don't Linger - Installation View: UKYA City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2019

Don't Linger - Installation View: UKYA City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2019

Don't Linger - Installation View: UKYA City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2019

It's always exciting to see members of the public activating Don't Linger and witnessing their reactions to the piece.

UKYA City Takeover Nottingham

Myself with Don't Linger - Installation View: UKYA City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2019

Don't Linger - Installation View: UKYA City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2019 

Don't Linger - Installation View: UKYA City Takeover, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, 2019

UKYA City Takeover spanned the city of Nottingham for a week in early February 2019.  The festival united 250 artists from 25 countries, showcasing a huge variety of contemporary work, from visual arts to performance; music; applied arts; literature; digital arts and moving image.

I was very happy to be involved in one of the largest biennials of national and international artists in the world, by exhibiting Don't Linger at Surface Gallery.  I was very pleased at how the public engaged with the work and the conversations it provoked. 

UKYA City Takeover

Don't Linger, Chaz Howkins, 2018, pencil on paper and ink on toilet seats

Don't Linger will be exhibited at Surface Gallery, Nottingham, from February 7 - 13th as part of UKYA City Takeover Nottingham.

More info:

http://www.ukyoungartists.co.uk/notts19-exhibitions/2018/12/18/surface-gallery

Orbit UK Art Graduates Show

Myself with my artwork - Don't Linger

Myself with my friends and family and my artwork - Don't Linger

Audience interaction with Don't Linger  

Audience interaction with Don't Linger 

Orbit UK Art Graduates Show was an exhibition to showcase the talent of recent Fine Art graduates.  (One third of) Don't Linger was exhibited at OXO Tower Bargehouse in August and was very well received by the audience.

Don't Linger detail

Don't Linger (close up pre-installation)

Don't Linger (close up pre-installation)

Don't Linger (close up pre-installation)

Some examples of the text elements of Don't Linger, which can be revealed by lifting up the lids of the toilet seats.

DD/MM/YY

Myself with my artwork

08/12/2017, Chaz Howkins, 2018, pencil on paper and pen on toilet seat

DD/MM/YY was an exhibition by students from Beuyce Studio as part of the inter-studio exhibition competition at The Welcome Mat.

Text experimentation

Experimentation with text - printed and written directly on the wall.

Experimenting with backgrounds and surface qualities

With tile effect wall-paper

Text on tile effect wall paper

Finger print effect

Dirty seat effect on dark tile effect wall-paper

Various experiments involving tile effect wall paper as a background to transform the gallery space into a bathroom space.  I experimented with dirtying the lid to create a more realistic experience of using a public bathroom, but decided that this would put people off interacting with the work.  I also consider creating a finger print on the lid to encourage people to touch it, but felt that this was unnecessary and could also put people off interacting with the work.

Oil paint self portrait

Self Portrait in oil paint with fine liner text (under toilet seat)

At the beginning of the toilet seat project I experimented with different ways of creating the portraits, including oil paint.  I felt that my skills with pencil were much stronger than oil paint, so didn't take the oil paintings any further than one self portrait.

Interrogation #2

Interrogation #2, Chaz Howkins, 2018, toilet
seat and acrylic on canvas 

Interrogation #2, Chaz Howkins, 2018, toilet
seat and acrylic on canvas 

Interrogation #2, Chaz Howkins, 2018, toilet
seat and acrylic on canvas 

Another interactive work portraying a queer experience of using a public gendered space such as a bathroom.

Interrogation (detail)

Interrogation (detail), Chaz Howkins, 2017, acrylic on scratched toilet seat and lid 

Interrogation (detail), Chaz Howkins, 2017, acrylic on scratched toilet seat and lid

Close up shots of Interrogation showing the detail of the text scratched into the toilet lid.  The text is quotes from experiences of gender non-conforming people in public bathrooms.

Interrogation

Installation view

Installation view 

Interrogation, Chaz Howkins, 2017, acrylic on scratched toilet seat and lid

A self portrait painted on the underside of a toilet seat lid.  The artwork should be positioned closed on top of a plinth so that the audience has to interact with it to reveal the painting.  Once the lid is opened the audience should then notice the text scratched into the lid around the portrait which can only be seen up close.  The text is a series of phrases which have been said to myself or other gender non conforming people while using the women's bathroom.