Released in 2021, Holiday Singapore Companion forms part of KAWS’ globally recognized Holiday series, translating a monumental public installation into a more intimate sculptural format. The edition follows the presentation of a 13-metre-long reclining Companion installed along Singapore’s Marina Bay, a work that significantly expanded the scale and emotional register of the artist’s practice.
Rather than functioning as a celebratory object, the edition distills the atmosphere of the installation—quiet, suspended, and deeply introspective.
Introduction
The sculpture presents a Companion lying horizontally on its back, body fully extended, holding a smaller Companion resting across its chest. The larger figure’s arms gently encircle the smaller one, stabilizing it within the composition. This horizontal orientation is fundamental. The figure is no longer active within space—it has yielded to it entirely. Legs extended, head reclined, arms fixed in a minimal gesture, the body exists in a state of complete release.
The smaller Companion mirrors the larger form in reduced scale, creating a near-symmetrical alignment. The two figures do not interact dynamically; instead, they form a single, cohesive unit—compact, contained, and still. Across the three colorways, the emotional tone shifts subtly. The black version appears more graphic and self-contained, punctuated by the yellow X-eyes. The brown introduces warmth and continuity, while the grey reduces the composition to a more neutral, sculptural presence.
Executed in painted cast vinyl and produced by Medicom Toy, the work maintains the precise finish and uniform surface quality characteristic of KAWS’ editions. The clarity of the material reinforces the reading of the composition as a single, unified volume. The work’s elongated horizontal format distinguishes it from more traditional upright Companion figures. Produced in an edition of 500 per colorway (most sources allude to a limited edition of an unknown size, unnumbered), and released in transparent packaging, the work emphasizes its dual identity as both collectible object and sculptural form. As with most Holiday releases, it sold out immediately.
The edition directly references the large-scale KAWS: Holiday installation presented at Marina Bay. Positioned against the architectural backdrop of Singapore’s skyline, the monumental Companion introduced an image of stillness into a highly dynamic urban environment.
The reclining figure, holding a smaller Companion, transformed the character into a landscape—its body becoming both structure and surface, accessible to viewers at a collective scale. The 2021 edition condenses this experience. It does not replicate the monument—it translates its condition, bringing the same posture and emotional tone into a more personal, domestic context.
At its core, the work explores the relationship between stillness and connection. The reclining posture suggests complete surrender—an absence of resistance, a body no longer engaged with movement or direction. Within this state, the presence of the smaller Companion introduces a counterpoint: continuity within inertia.
The gesture is minimal yet precise. The larger figure does not act, yet it holds. The smaller figure does not move, yet it remains supported. This creates a quiet tension. The work may be read as care, reflection, or transmission—a parent and child, a self and its echo, or a moment suspended between presence and absence. Unlike earlier Companion works defined by isolation, this piece introduces proximity—but without narrative or sentimentality. The connection is structural, not expressive.
As part of the KAWS: Holiday series, the Singapore edition holds a significant position within the artist’s market, strengthened by its direct connection to one of the most visually impactful public installations of the project.
Its horizontal composition and dual-figure structure distinguish it within the Companion lineage, marking a shift toward more relational and introspective forms. More broadly, the work encapsulates a key evolution in KAWS’ practice: from figures that occupy space to figures that yield to it—while still carrying the weight of another. Here, the Companion does not stand, perform, or withdraw. It remains—grounded, still, and quietly holding.
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE, 2021
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Grey/Brown/Black)
The complete set of three works
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2021
Dimensions: 7x26x10 cm (2-3/4 x 10-1/4 x 4 inches)
Edition: Limited edition of unknown size, unnumbered
Produced by AllRightsReserved Ltd., Hong Kong
Stamped signature, title and inscription to underside
‘Kaws: Holiday Made in China’
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Black), 2021
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Black)
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2021
Dimensions: 7x26x10 cm (2-3/4 x 10-1/4 x 4 inches)
Edition: Limited edition of unknown size, unnumbered
Produced by AllRightsReserved Ltd., Hong Kong
Stamped signature, title and inscription to underside
‘Kaws: Holiday Made in China’
Auction Results
LA Modern: 28 September 2023
Estimated: USD 600 – 800
USD 882
KAWS (Brian Donnelly, b.1974)
Holiday Singapore (black), 2021
Painted cast vinyl
Stamped signature, title and inscription to underside
‘Kaws: Holiday Made in China’
This work is from an edition of unknown size
Produced by AllRightsReserved Ltd., Hong Kong
Sold with original box
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Brown), 2021
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Brown)
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2021
Dimensions: 7x26x10 cm (2-3/4 x 10-1/4 x 4 inches)
Edition: Limited edition of unknown size, unnumbered
Produced by AllRightsReserved Ltd., Hong Kong
Stamped signature, title and inscription to underside
‘Kaws: Holiday Made in China’
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Grey), 2021
HOLIDAY SINGAPORE (Grey)
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2021
Dimensions: 7x26x10 cm (2-3/4 x 10-1/4 x 4 inches)
Edition: Limited edition of unknown size, unnumbered
Produced by AllRightsReserved Ltd., Hong Kong
Stamped signature, title and inscription to underside
‘Kaws: Holiday Made in China’
