Jetty Painting

Jetty, Chaz Howkins, 2016, acrylic on board

Names and gender assumptions

Names and Gender Assumptions, Chaz Howkins, 2016, digital manipulation

A visual exploration of how language can be used to imply gender and the importance of names in relation to identity.

Assigning gender to lines

Names and Assumptions, Chaz Howkins, 2016, pen and pencil

An exploration of the associations made between use of language (names) and gender.

A PSA about my name

It's Pronounced Shaz, Chaz Howkins, 2016, pencil & pen

Unexpected uses for a cardboard box

Imaginary Window 1, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

Imaginary Window 2, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photo manipulation

As a response to the brief, I wanted to respond to the cardboard box how a child might, as children can take mundane objects and use their imagination to see potential in them.  This led me to imagining the cardboard box as a window into another world, which I visually communicated by creating these photo manipulations which transport the viewer from the run-down interior into a brighter, natural exterior.

Unexpected uses for a cardboard box

Cardboard Obstruction 1, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

Cardboard Obstruction 2, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

Cardboard Obstruction 3, Chaz Howkins, 2016, photograph

As a response to a brief requiring unexpected uses for a cardboard box, I created a series of photographs in which the cardboard was used as a means of obstructing the landscape.  As I obstructed more and more of the landscape with the cardboard, I found the photos more humorous as it becomes less obvious what the photograph is attempting to capture.

Unexpected uses for a cardboard box

Cardboard Boxer, Chaz Howkins, 2016, cardboard and tape

A visual pun. A small scale maquette for a sculpture I feel would be most successful if created life-size.

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)

Self Portraits

Spidey-Chaz, Chaz Howkins, 2016, fine liner

Dot Selfie, Chaz Howkins, 2016, fine liner and markers

Fisherman Selfie, Chaz Howkins, 2016, fine liner

Formal Selfie, Chaz Howkins, 2016, fine liner and oil pastel

Digital Selfie, Chaz Howkins, 2016, fine liner

A series of self portraits, all of which took under 2 minutes to complete.  I wanted the portraits to be fairly minimalistic so only introduced colour when I felt it was absolutely necessary.  These drawings are taken from a series in which I explored my own vanity and narcissism.

Typography Experimentations

Dear America, Chaz Howkins, 2016, pen and coloured pencil

Miss EU Already, Chaz Howkins, 2016, coloured pencil and fine liner

I've been wanting to experiment with typography so decided to create some topical drawings based on recent events.

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.

Zone Magazine Article

I was very happy to be featured in the June edition of Zone Magazine in the lead up to my solo exhibition in Leicester.

Not My Cup Of Tea exhibition

Photograph by Faith Berry

I participated in an exhibition alongside 22 other artists, I chose to exhibit The Death of Childhood as it was an older piece which I had yet to exhibit publicly.

Collaborative Photography

The Taboos of Intimacy, Chaz Howkins and Katya Veleva, 2016, photograph

In a society in which lesbian relationships are sexualised, gay relationships are judged and gender ambiguity is unsettling, what might a conservative viewer think of this image?  Would they attempt to heteronormatise it and attempt to read one subject as male and one as female, accept that it is two male characters embracing or try to believe it's two women?

Collaborative Photography

Duality, Chaz Howkins and Katya Veleva, 2016, photograph

Most of my recent photography has been self portraiture due to the self explorative nature of my work, however I felt it was time to broaden my practice by beginning to use other models in my photography.

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.

Does It Matter? A Conversation

Image by Kate Self

As well as the exhibition, which ran for two weeks, an event was put on called ‘Does it Matter? A Conversation’ which consisted of talks given by myself and artist Elly Clarke, followed by a discussion about gender identity and themes we’d spoken about.  During my talk, I spoke about my experience preparing for the exhibition, the concept of gender as performance and a social construct and how feminism comes into my work.  Clarke joined us via Google Hangout from her home in Berlin to talk about digital technology and the role of gender as performance within her work.  During the discussion we went into more depth about our experiences with drag and how it is perceived within our society and the influence that society has on impressionable children in relation to their understanding of their gender.

Does It Matter? Exhibition Space

Series of double exposures