Asian Pacific Festival to feature art, dance, music and plenty of food in Sandy this weekend

The 2002 Utah Asian Pacific Festival offered a showcase for the work of 25 local Asian artists — which, at the time, struck Jo-Ann Wong as humorous. "Who even knew there were 25 Asians in Utah?"

Now in its 30th year, the annual festival has expanded to feature about 40 artists, along with traditional Asian dance performances, an "Asian Idol" singing competition and tons of Asian food.

Wong, who has been involved in the festival since it was first organized in 1977, said the art exhibit was added in 2002 to showcase the talents of local Asians. Varying in nationality and artistic mediums, the works for this year's exhibit were submitted by the designers as part of this weekend's Year of the Pig festivities.

Cassandria Wong Parsons, a native of Hong Kong who received her bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Utah, said the idea for her painting, "Strength of an Asian Woman," came from the cultural pressures Asian women experience when they move to America.

"I just feel like the Oriental women," Parsons said. "We come with a lot of cultural pressure when we come to the United States. We have to carry on that traditional responsibility."

Referring to the differences in their more traditional vs. modern roles, Parsons said it can be difficult for Asian women to balance the responsibilities of family and career.

Using reds and rusty oranges, Parson's painting depicts a woman amid scattered Chinese symbols that mean strength, literature and honor. A white crane on the far right of the painting is meant to "represent the beautiful spirit of Asian women." In Chinese culture, the crane represents the spirit of God.

With its thick, swirling strokes and paint drips in some areas, Parson describes her painting as abstract. "When I do my paintings, I try to destroy it first, so I'm not uptight anymore." Then she cleans it up, while retaining "some of the energy." Multiple washes kind of distort the woman's face, "sort of like a veil," she said, expressing the way women are sometimes expected to be in the background.

Another Chinese artist, Yuan Chen, uses packing material to make his unconventional art. With his daughter, Xin Chen Morrow, translating, Chen says he carves Styrofoam to create figurines. Chen makes detailed animals, including horses, boars and roosters, out of the porous white material.

In honor of the Year of the Pig, he carved many Styrofoam pigs, some of which were playing trumpets, reading books — and one was stooped over a cane. It's a "senior pig," Morrow said, smiling.