2019 was the Year of the Pig (El Año del Cerdo) and I participated in a group show of painted Mexican Piggy Banks for the Arte de la Vida Gallery in Tucson, AZ.
Because the Year of the Pig is from the Chinese Zodiac, but the piggy bank was Mexican I wanted to do a mash-up of styles. I used “signifiers” from both the Chinese and the Mexican cultures mixed together with a little tongue in cheek. The character in the circle on the side means “pig”.
The “pig tail” is braided like the traditional “queue” worn by the men of the Qing dynasty in China.
This view of the “pork belly” shows off the blue and white motif of the Mexican Talavera tiles. I did a tiny bit of research and learned that Talavera style of painting was inspired by the blue and white porcelain introduced to Mexico by Chinese immigrants.