He cast the works based on human models in various materials, including polyester resin, fiberglass, Bondo, and bronze.

Hanson's Abortion (1966) was inspired by the horrors of an illicit backroom procedure,[2] and Accident (1967)[3] showed a motorcycle crash.

Other works which dealt with physical violence or other explosive social issues of the 1960s were Riot (1967), Football Players (1969), and Vietnam Scene (1969).

These sculptures, cast from actual people, were painted to make the revealed skin look realistic, replete with veins and blemishes.

Clearly, these works contained strong social comment, and can be seen as modern parallels to the concerns of 19th-century French Realists such as Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet, artists Hanson admired.

"[4] Peter Schjeldahl, noted in his March 2018 article for The New Yorker about the show "Like Life", "his (Hanson's) hyperrealistic tableaux, starring a frowsy working-class housewife and a weary housepainter, curiously become ever more affecting as their period looks recede in time."