Wells Fargo is proud to honor the dragon’s legacy as an iconic symbol in our communities and throughout the Lunar New Year calendar. Since the beginning of time, dragons in Asian myths have represented prosperity, luck, and fortune to the world. They’ve also inspired artists to depict fantastic stories and works of art featuring the dragon’s spirit. A select group of artists have joined our celebration to breathe life into our Year of the Dragon calendar. We invite you to download their artwork as a mobile wallpaper to celebrate Lunar New Year all year long.
The Lunar New Year calendar begins with artwork from Tiffany Le, a Vietnamese-American illustrator, who pays homage to the dragon’s ancient past. She uses water colors to depict the dragon creating the world while adding her own personal details. Her art investigates themes towards cultural legacy, comparative mythology and literature, and social topics through an Asian-American lens.
Vietnamese stories, cultural legacy, and folklore influence my art. I modeled the flowers after the ones that grow in my family’s garden, which bloom for each celebration. I especially wanted to incorporate hints of the yellow apricot blossom, which is named after a Vietnamese heroine that returns to visit her family home every Lunar New Year as the flower.
Tiffany Le
Alex Cabal, a Filipino-American illustrator, uses bold shapes, textures and contrasting colors to tell a story and empowering portraits.
By infusing vibrant, bold colors and repeated patterns, the dragon moves through the river, surrounded by symbols inspired by my Filipino roots.
Alex Cabal
For her dragon’s tale, she creates a folk-art style tableau of a dragon controlling the seas and winds. With the dragon’s gifts, humanity can start building livelihoods and stable communities, advancing and thriving until we arrive at the modern era.
Bringing us into the present moment, Chinese-American concept artist Maggie Chan weaves an anime-style dragon through bustling city skyscrapers. Its watchful eye overlooks our communities as it inspires creativity and luck. Maggie’s upbringing guides her artistic direction while her storytelling shapes the style of her art. Versatility is as much of a tool as her technique as she adapts to the different needs of her unique projects.
As a Chinese-American, I grew up watching Chinese dramas and Japanese anime which had a huge influence on my art. I left Easter eggs regarding Chinese mythology in the art – the jade rabbit, moon cakes that I loved to eat every Mid-Autumn Festival, and the love story of Chang’e and Houyi.
Maggie Chan
The future of the dragon will be determined by artists and storytellers like Brendan Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American concept artist who specializes in character and creature designs for live-action and video games. Inspired by comic and dinosaur books, Brendan strives to showcase realism in his artwork. He displays his skill in the last quarter of our calendar as he creates the dragon in a 3D style that leads our communities into a new era of success and prosperity.
Growing up in a Vietnamese household, my parents used to tell stories of what a dragon symbolized in their culture. The patterning of the scales and the vibrant colors of the dragon evoke wealth and prosperity. The inspiration for how the dragon was designed came from the statues in the temples I grew up visiting.
Brendan Nguyen
Each year is an honor to celebrate Lunar New Year with our communities. Discovering rising Asian-American artists and sharing expressions of culture is a joy and Wells Fargo is proud to play a part. Join us as we celebrate the Year of the Dragon and above all, Happy Lunar New Year!
