Interrogation in situ

Interrogation (in situ)

An experiment to see how the artwork would look placed atop a real toilet - perhaps in future I could create these portraits with slogans as stickers to be stuck under the lids of public toilets as a form of activism. 

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.

Self portrait painting

Take Me Home, Chaz Howkins, 2017, acrylic on paper

Another sad self portrait.

Self portrait

I'd Rather Die, Chaz Howkins, 2017, fine liner on paper

A self portrait depicting anxiety and depression.

Transphobia posters

Poster in situ 

Transphobia Poster, Chaz Howkins, 2017, digitally created poster

After adapting the sanitary bags to read "please dispose of transphobia in the bin provided" I felt this would be an appropriate slogan for a poster so created posters which I placed on the walls of public bathrooms.

Ladies Room

Ladies Room, Chaz Howkins, 2017, installation

Ladies Room, Chaz Howkins, 2017, installation

Ladies Room, Chaz Howkins, 2017, installation

Ladies Room, Chaz Howkins, 2017, installation

This interactive artwork encourages the audience to take a tissue from the toilet tissue dispenser and then either keep it or add it to the pile on the floor.  Each tissue has written on it a quote from real life experiences in a gendered space - the women's bathroom.  The quotes come from either my own experiences of presenting androgynously or the experiences of those who present themselves similarly to myself.

Are You A Boy Or A Girl?

Are You A Boy Or A Girl? (clip), Chaz Howkins, 2017, film

3 minute clip of a 30 minute film intended to be played on a loop.

Too often strangers feel that the way I look gives them the right to ask me “are you a boy or a girl?”.  I created a durational performance film of myself repeating this phrase because when people ask me this, it’s a one off experience for them, but it’s something that stays with me and continues to happen, so the idea is that the film plays continuously and the audience will dip in and out of this interrogative experience.

Face Your Fear

Face Your Fear (detail)

Face Your Fear

Face Your Fear - installation view, Chaz Howkins, 2017, installation

I created this installation in response to a week spend in Venice.  As someone with a phobia of pigeons, I spent most of the week in distress, having to dodge crowds of pigeons in the streets and hide in toilets when they wandered into cafes.  I chose to exaggerate the scale of my pigeon sculpture to make it more fearsome, so that the audience gets an idea of how pigeons make me feel.  There is a painting of Venice hidden behind the pigeon to represent how pigeons got in the way of fully enjoying my time spent there.

Process of creating Face Your Fear

Process images of creating Face Your Fear.  The sculpture was created using polystyrene, which I cut  by hand with a saw because the hot wire machine was out of use, and then coated in paper mache.  I chose for the finish to be bare newspaper as I felt newspapers and pigeons have a lot in common in terms of how they are discarded and overlooked by most.

Disposal Bags

Disposal Bag (series),  Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph / pen on found object 

Disposal Bag (series),  Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph / pen on found object

Disposal Bag (series),  Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph / pen on found object

Exploration of transphobia in public bathrooms.

Bathroom Misgendering

Excuse Me, Sir, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

You Know This Is The Ladies Room, Right? (series), Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

You Know This Is The Ladies Room, Right? (series), Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

A photographic series exploring the experience of being misgendered in a gendered space - public bathrooms.

Strada Veneziane exhibition

Face Your Fear - exhibition view

Strada Veneziane is an exhibition of 4 artists responding to a trip to Venice, each of us chose to respond to the city rather than any of the artworks we saw at the Biennale.

Leg Hair photo series

Define Your Own Femininity,  Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

Femininity is Subjective, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

I waxed one strip of my leg hair so I could write messages in the patch of bare skin surrounded by hair - however I think my leg hair is too light for this effect to be noticeable, so this photo shoot was not as successful as I'd hoped.

Queer Art(ists) Now exhibition

Queer Art(ists) Now was an opportunity for LGBTQ+ artists to showcase their work as a part of And What? Queer Arts Festival, an annual London based arts festival.

Queer Art(ists) Now Exhibition

Opening night tomorrow

Talking Genders Exhibition

Myself with my film installation: Are You A Boy Or A Girl? Chaz Howkins, 2017, film

Talking Genders Exhibition was a part of And What? Queer Arts Festival - a London based festival which showcases the work of LGBTQ+ artists.  Talking Genders Project involved myself and 12 other young queer artists being chosen to take part in a 3 week intensive artistic development programme.  The programme consisted of guest artist workshops and artistic mentoring by the Himherandit team, working towards creating an artwork for this exhibition.  The exhibition intended to act as an empowering space and give visibility to diverse perspectives of young LGBTQ+ artists.  I found this programme and exhibition to be an incredibly valuable experience and am very grateful to have been made a part of it.

Talking Genders Exhibition

More details here

Gendered Space photography series

Gendered Space, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

Gendered Space #2, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

Gendered Space #3, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

Gendered Space #4, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

Gendered Space #5 (Self), Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

Gendered spaces such as bathrooms are a place of anxiety for androgynous presenting people as we are often subjected to interrogation or harassment.  I posed an androgynous model in this unsafe space with the words ‘are you a boy or a girl’ written on their face to replicate this common experience.

Gendered Space photography series

Colin On The Toilet, Chaz Howkins, 2017, photograph

One of the less successful shots from the Gendered Space series featuring more of the subject's body than just head and shoulders.  I decided to focus more on portraiture for the rest of the series so that the writing on the subject's face was more easily readable.