KAWS 別具一格的提煉文化的手法也在這幅作品中得到了體現,該作品致敬了他最喜歡的 20 世紀藝術家之一。 2001 年,他發現了雕塑家H. C. 韋斯特曼及其他四位藝術家的作品,他們揭示了藝術史中更勇敢、更狂野、更難以分類的一面:「這些都是我感興趣的藝術家— —一次性看到所有作品非常難得」。他對韋斯特曼的繪畫和水彩尤其著迷,在收集其雕塑之前他用了十年收集這些繪畫與水彩,包括《Drawing of a Man Underwater, Sea of Cortez》,在畫中藝術家將自己描繪為正受雙髻鯊虎視眈眈的花花公子。KAWS 將這一令人不安的剪影幾乎原樣移植到畫作中——只是這一次,發出威脅者是一個戴著碩大手套、穿著鞋子、類似米老鼠(或 KAWS 的同伴)的吉祥物。
To understand the work of KAWS is to understand his roots in the skateboard and graffiti crews of New York City. Brian Donnelly chose KAWS as his moniker to tag city streets beginning in the 1990s, and quickly became a celebrated standout in the scene. Having swapped spray paint for explorations in fine art spanning sculpture, painting and collage, KAWS has maintained a fascination with classic cartoons, including Garfield, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons, and reconfigured familiar subjects into a world of fantasy.
Perhaps he is most known for his larger-than-life fiberglass sculptures that supplant the body of Mickey Mouse onto KAWS' own imagined creatures, often with 'x'-ed out eyes or ultra-animated features. However, KAWS also works frequently in neon and vivid paint, adding animation and depth to contemporary paintings filled with approachable imagination. There is mass appeal to KAWS, who exhibits globally and most frequently in Asia, Europe and the United States.