KAWS, Urge I (Green), 2020

In Urge I (Green) (2020), KAWS fuses bold color and emotional tension in a composition that is both playful and deeply introspective. The work depicts the artist’s signature Companion figure rendered in a vivid green hue, surrounded by four hands — grey, red, black, and purple — each marked with the familiar X motif. These hands press against the figure’s face and body, suggesting themes of suppression, self-restraint, and the complexity of inner emotion.

Part of the Urge series, this print exemplifies KAWS’s ability to merge the visual language of animation and pop culture with psychological depth. The Companion character, originally inspired by beloved cartoon forms, becomes here a vehicle for exploring the human condition — anxiety, desire, and the tension between exposure and concealment. The use of bright, saturated color contrasts sharply with the emotional weight of the imagery, creating a dialogue between aesthetic pleasure and existential unease.

Executed with KAWS’s signature clean lines and crosshatched detailing, Urge I (Green) continues the artist’s exploration of identity and empathy through simplified, universally legible forms. The overlapping hands evoke both comfort and constraint, suggesting the conflicting pressures of self-awareness in a hyper-connected world. Through this powerful synthesis of pop iconography and psychological nuance, KAWS transforms a cartoon figure into a mirror of contemporary emotion — tender, conflicted, and undeniably human.