Rhinoceros (White Rhino) 1985

William Hawkins made this “White Rhino” painting, its date unknown, with house paint on Masonite. Look at how the paint is applied – so directly, with such an economy of means! It’s clear that Hawkins wasn’t trying to trick us into thinking we were looking at a real rhino, he’s more interested in the *idea* of a rhino, and how he can represent that idea through his chosen materials. I love the way he's handled the rhino's hide: white paint, dabbed and scumbled to give it texture, divided by clean, confident lines of brown. And that background! A crazy, churning mass of green, red, and black that could be trees, or maybe just a feeling. Hawkins isn’t interested in blending colors, he just puts them on, raw. Hawkins reminds me a bit of Henri Rousseau, another self-taught artist who wasn't afraid to embrace his own vision. Both artists create worlds that are both familiar and strange, real and imagined. And for both of them, art isn’t about getting things “right”, it’s a conversation, an ongoing experiment.