Photography (MA)
Eden Hawkins
Eden Hawkins (b.1993) is a London based artist whose practice focuses on photography and digital modes of image-making. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2016 having received a First Class Degree, The University of Edinburgh Purchase Prize, The Katherine Michaelson Prize, The Number Shop exhibition and residency award, and an RSA New Contemporaries Award. Eden was commissioned by Scotland’s leading photography gallery, Stills Center for Photography, to take part in the group exhibition Ambit: Photographies of Scotland in 2017. This work traveled to the Cello Factory, London for the Ingram Collection Purchase Prize Exhibition. In 2019 she took part in a funded residency program in Hokkaido and Tokyo, Japan which culminated in an on-site exhibition and publication.
Eden is a part of NET WT. In 2016, she completed an internship for the editorial photographer, Qiu Yang. She is currently completing her Master's postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Art, London whilst freelancing as a Photographer and Digital Artist.
Sponsors
Shelford Place Studios
Through photographs, scans, and digital modes of image-making, my practice examines peripheral materials and surfaces that are embedded in everyday domestic and work environments. I am interested in the possibilities of fabric, interiors, and materials and their abilities to reflect, intervene with and react within their socio-economic climates.
Sweaty Betty Open Back Support Racer, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Anti-Slip Pool Ladders, 2020 — Photograph 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Strapped in Racer, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Cropped Vestment Racer, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Ursela’s Vessel Racer with Faux Vintage Lace, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
New Years Resolutions Racer with Running Shoe Laces, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Bush and Snail Trail Racer, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 27” Giclée Print
Masking in Medium, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 31 x 23 ” Giclée Print
Gym Spread no.3, 2020 — Photograph 31 x 23 ” Giclée Print
Splayed Golden Racer, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Gym Spread no.1, 2020 — Photograph and digital reconstruction 23 x 31” Giclée Print
Courtside Manners, 2020 — Scan and digital reconstruction 30 x 30 " Giclée Print
Like a Stitch in the Side is concerned with the symptoms and motivations of the gym participant. With the notion of optimisation and the female form. Where pleasure, self-care, and spirituality are advertised as acts of self-improvement. Evoking memories of athletic awards and swimmers badges, the figures approached in this visual series play with markers of achievement.
An integral figure to this project is the visual of the racer swimming costume. After vacating the studio to work in isolation, this series became centered around the tools available to me: a high-resolution file of the swimming costume and a scan of an embroidered swimming badge. Unpicked and reconstructed, the digital fibers constitute a large proportion of the images. In these expositions, the generic garment is subverted as it absorbs anecdotal influences from trends on body improvement and marketed lifestyle tips. And it is through this focus on digitally stitching and altering cloth that the distilled shape of the costume meets a language that is inherently associated with craft and women’s work. Between badges and reconstructed textiles are close-ups of the body and generic artificial surfaces, punctuated by a taxonomic fascination with digitally embroidered detailing.