Barbie Jewellery

Barbie Necklace

Back of Barbie ring

Barbie ring

After creating jewellery in the plastic workshop, I wanted to create jewellery that was relevant to my other work.  So I created a ring from a Barbie's head and a necklace from another's face and arms.  My intention was for these pieces to be discomforting as I felt that wearing a face with a vacant smile on my finger would appear somewhat sinister.

Plastic workshop outcome

I created this series of rings by firstly sticking newspaper lettering onto acetate and then trapping it between two ends of a piece of plastic softened in the oven.  These rings are a follow-on from my 'antiloveheart' rings, as they carry the same sentiment, subverting the expectations of what might be written on a ring.

Inspiration for plastic rings

Anti-LoveHeart Rings

For the last year or so, I have been making 'AntiLoveHeart' rings and selling them on Etsy.  I repaint loveheart sweets subverting their original messages, for example changing them from 'I love you' to 'I hate you' and 'call me' to 'bite me'.  I think these rings are quite playful and I plan to create rings similar to these from plastic using the skills I learnt from the plastic workshop.

Available from: https://www.etsy.com/shop/antilovehearts

Plastic workshop outcome

After experimenting with a few processes, I found that the tin foil and bubble techniques were the most successful, so went on to create a series of pieces.  I turned the pieces of plastic into rings by simply neatening the edges with an electric sander and super-glueing them to a ring base.

Plastic workshop outcomes

Plastic and tin foil necklace close up 

Plastic and tin foil necklace

Bracelet

Plastic bubble necklace

After being shown a few processes of how to manipulate plastic, I cut some pieces of plastic and softened them in the oven to create jewellery from.  I created the tin foil necklace by trapping and squashing a piece of tin foil between two pieces of plastic which had been softened in the oven.  The bubble necklace was created by heating a piece of plastic with a lower melting point than the other pieces and squashing it against another piece of plastic to join them together.

Spray Paint collage

Silhouette Collage, Chaz Howkins, 2015, spray paint and mixed media on board

I experimented further with creating silhouettes and expanded on this by using a patterned and textured backgrounds, which I feel gives the piece a greater sense of depth, especially with the use of the bloody handprints behind the already eerie figures.

Spray Paint Silhouettes

Spray Silhouette, Chaz Howkins, 2015, spray paint

Spray Side Silhouette, Chaz Howkins, 2015, spray paint

While spray painting my black Barbie series, I placed the dolls on white pieces of paper so that I could document the process and create these silhouette-like pieces.  I think the simplicity of these images makes them appear sinister as they suggest the presence of a doll, or an elongated lifelike creature, without fully revealing it - an illusion of suspense.

Macro Photography

Eyeless Black, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph 

Smile, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph 

Side Black, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

I used macro photography to capture the doll's faces as this created some very demonic imagery and drew attention to their large but now empty eyes.

Black Barbie Photography

Eyeless, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Curves, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Dark Model, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Spray Painted Barbies

Black Barbies, Chaz Howkins, 2015, spray painted Barbie dolls

I spray painted three dolls completely matt black as I wanted to erase their facial features to make them appear sinister as the viewer is left lost and longing for explanation.  I found that darkening the dolls highlighted their disproportionate body shapes as, when displayed against a white background, their waistline is extremely exaggerated, drawing attention to how frail and unhealthy these body images are.

Plastic workshop outcome

Assemblage, Chaz Howkins, 2015, Plastic and mixed media on board

After using the vacuum former to create a bubble in the sheet of plastic during the workshop, I decided to fill the bubble and mount it onto wooden board to create a three dimensional assemblage piece.  I filled the bubble with items I felt reflected childhood and femininity, such as toys and clothing, alongside juxtaposing items such as cigarette packets.

Women's Week Exhibition

Mummy, Chaz Howkins, 2015, pencil

One section of the exhibition (in very poor lighting)

I recently entered a portrait competition run by Loughborough University's Women's Network and the portraits were displayed at the Women of Loughborough Festival and exhibited in the union for the week.  The portrait had to be of an inspirational female, so I chose to draw my mother - the most inspiring person I know.

Bloody Barbie painting

Bloody Barbie, Chaz Howkins, 2015, acrylic & mixed media on board

This painting aims to discomfort the viewer by subverting the norms of what is expected of a children’s toy and corrupting the innocence of it.  The doll appears to cry out to the viewer through lifeless, vacant eyes as if pleading to be relieved of the torture it has been put through.  The piece also subverts the norms of society’s constructs of beauty, as the doll can be used to represent society’s expectations of female beauty, which is then destroyed by the use of blood and gore.  I feel particularly connected to this piece after having smeared my own blood on it to give it a real sense of grotesque.

I'm looking forward to having this piece exhibited in the Face-off exhibition after Easter.

Progress of Bloody Barbie

3D Animation Workshop

Learning how to create and manipulate shapes 

Experimenting with pre set animation effects

Toothbrush nearing completion

I really enjoyed this workshop and, though it could be frustrating at times, I think this software could be very useful for future work.

3D Animation Outcome

Our task for the morning was to create a 3D toothbrush using Maya, which we then animated in the afternoon to make it jump over a cup.  I think this workshop was very useful in learning the basics of how to use the software and I will be able to use these skills in the future to create more complex animations.

Reconstruction

Mutant, Chaz Howkins, 2015, reconstructed Barbie dolls

After playing around with deconstructing and reconstructing Barbies using photography, I decided to turn this idea into a 3D sculpture.  I used the limbs of four dolls to create a mutant Barbie creature, which I feel appears quite haunting as its arms are outstretched as if it is trying to beckon the viewer towards it, making the viewer feel somewhat uncomfortable.  The creature reminds me of something a demented child might make out of its toys by ripping their limbs off and melting them back together.  The limbs were joined together using a hot glue gun, but unfortunately the glue was not strong enough so the piece fell apart before I could photograph it properly.

Deconstruction

Reconstruction 1, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Reconstruction 2, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Bet Barbie Did Nazi That Coming, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

Dickheads, Chaz Howkins, 2015, photograph

After deconstructing a Barbie for my metal sculpture, I decided to explore the possibilities of deconstructed dolls.  I took the limbs of several dolls and reconstructed them into different shapes; firstly as mutant creatures, which I feel have quite a sinister look to them.  I then went on to corrupt the innocence of the dolls by turning them into images that a child may not or should not understand, such as swastikas and phallic imagery.

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.