Workday Begins 上工了

This sculpture captures a lighthearted moment from rural life in Taiwan’s past. In farming communities, when a sow needed to breed, people would call in a breeder to bring a male pig for the job.

In this scene, an old man walks with a cheerful spring in his step, humming a folk tune as he leads the pig to a customer’s home. He looks relaxed and satisfied, simply doing his rounds. The pig, however, drags its feet with a tired, unwilling expression, clearly not in the mood. After all, it's the pig who has to do the work, while the man just shows up and waits to collect the money.

The contrast between the man’s lighthearted attitude and the pig’s quiet frustration adds humor and personality to a now-vanished part of everyday life.

Edition of 36

Dimensions: 15 × 8.3 × 12.2 in (38 × 21 × 31 cm)
Weight: 15.4 lbs (7 kg)
Material: Bronze