Lunar New Year to be celebrated at Stamford campus with art exhibit

The Stamford Campus will celebrate Lunar New Year in a special program on Sunday, Jan. 29 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The celebration will take place in the Stamford Campus Art Gallery, which is featuring work by four local artists, including four dragons, which symbolize good luck. The exhibit, “The Lunar New Year: Celebrating Asian Art,” will be in the first-floor gallery through March 31.

The featured artists include:

Carol Nipomnich Dixon of Old Greenwich, best known for her color photography and small-scaled embroidered collages, which combine traditional and contemporary techniques. Many of her works have been inspired by her knowledge of Asian history and art and her visits to China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. She is a former member of the Greenwich Academy’s history and arts departments and has taught studio courses at the Stamford Museum.

Peter Landa, who has lived in Japan and Korea and traveled extensively in China and Southeast Asia. Landa has studied in Japan with Hiratsuka, a master wood artist. Originally from Chicago, Landa lives in Easton, and has worked for many years as a graphic artist and book designer. He works with pen and ink and makes prominent use of the “lucky” color red in depicting the intimate details of the everyday life of farmers, fishermen, and village marketers.

Heidi Lewis Coleman, who spent several years in Seattle, a port city long a major center for trade with the Far East. Asian design has become an intrinsic part of Seattle’s culture and has had a significant influence on many of the local artists. Coleman was particularly fascinated by the intricate calligraphy used to decorate ancient scrolls and screens. Her most recent body of work, “Writing in Tongues,” incorporates her own abstract, automatic writing reflecting the grace and intricacy of Chinese calligraphy.