KAWS Passing Through, Along the Way, Seated: Iconic Poses and Their Value
Beyond the standing Companion figure, KAWS has produced a range of pose-specific sculptures that each carry distinct collector audiences and secondary market dynamics. Passing Through, Along the Way, and the Seated Companion represent the most collected non-standing KAWS poses — each with its own production history, scale range, and price trajectory.
Passing Through
The Passing Through figure — a Companion with hands covering its face — is one of KAWS's most emotionally resonant forms. The hands-over-face gesture is ambiguous: grief, exhaustion, contemplation. This emotional charge has made Passing Through figures particularly sought after among collectors who engage with the work's emotional content rather than purely its market position. The form has appeared across multiple scales and materials, including the Karimoku wood collaboration versions.
Along the Way
Along the Way depicts the Companion carrying a smaller Companion, evoking themes of parenthood, mentorship, or companionship. The narrative content of this pose broadens its appeal beyond the core collector base — the imagery reads immediately to audiences unfamiliar with the broader KAWS catalog. This broad readability translates into secondary market demand from buyers who might not otherwise engage deeply with the KAWS figure market.
Seated Companion
The Seated Companion appeared in the KAWS Holiday series and in standalone releases. The seated format scales differently in display contexts than the standing Companion, making it attractive for table-level or pedestal display rather than shelf display — a practical distinction that affects where and how collectors incorporate it into displays.
