Tim Hawkinson

American, b. 1960

Untitled (Mirror Self Portrait #6)
2000

Urethane foam
84.5 x 26.875 x 4 in.
Gift of Cecilia Dan
2019.34

Using urethane foam to mimic flesh, bone, and other organic textures, Hawkinson distorts his own appearance, becoming a golem-like creature. Through this warped representation of self, Hawkinson challenges viewers to consider how they see themselves and how others see them. He also questions what differentiates a person from a creature. Hawkinson was born in San Francisco and resides in Los Angeles.

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This object has the following keywords:

• abstract - Genre of visual arts in which figurative subjects or other forms are simplified or changed in their representation so that they do not portray a recognizable person, object, thing, etc.; may reference an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object. For the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances, prefer "abstraction." For 20th-century art styles that were a reaction against the traditional European conception of art as the imitation of nature, use "Abstract (fine arts style)."
• sculpture
• self portrait
• Urethane foam