He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas, Austin in 1984 and a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) in 1988.[5][6] After graduating from Cal Arts, Hawkins worked for a time as a short story writer.[7] Hawkins' art largely consists of sculpture and collage.[8] His works combine "ubiquitous pop-culture images and objects with arcane references and quotes"; frequent themes include "current celebrities, literary lions of yesteryear, haunted houses, Asian sex tourism, Greek and Roman statuary and the American Indian experience".[7] He is gay, and his sexuality also informs his artwork.[7][8] According to art historian Richard Meyer, Hawkins' "mash-up [of] avant-garde, kitsch and kink", including the use of traditionally feminine consumer items, "challenge[s] us to rethink our hierarchies of value and visual pleasure."[7]
Hawkins was instrumental in reviving the work of the late artist Tony Greene, including co-curating (with Catherine Opie) an exhibition of Greene's work that was included in the 2014 Whitney Biennial exhibition in New York.[9]
^Mark Coetzee, ed. (2007). Red eye: L.A. artists from the Rubell Family Collection, December 6, 2006-May 31, 2007. Miami, Fla.: Rubell Museum. ISBN9780978988876.