We cherish our global community of designers and artists, but we’re not immune to hometown pride. When two notable Chicago interior designers both gravitate toward one of our favorite Chicago artists – and select his work for their clients’ outstanding homes in Chicago —  it showcases the local design alchemy that we’ve cherished since PAGODA RED opened in 1997.  

Laurel Feldman and Lauren Coburn are both longstanding PAGODA RED clients and have placed art and objects from our gallery in several of their projects, in both local homes and those they’ve designed across the United States. Among their many projects, we love the way each designer has featured a fine art kite by Michael Thompson and shown how art can be the finishing touch to tie a room together.

We’ve represented artist Michael Thompson for years, and our visit to his studio remains a popular read on The Red Book Stories. Feldman chose Thompson’s “Ungrounded (With Blossoms)” for a favorite residence on Sheridan Road, while Coburn selected “Winter Solstice” for a client in the Gold Coast. We sat down and chatted with each designer about why these one-of-a-kind kites were the perfect choices for these projects.

In addition to being a renowned interior designer, Laurel Feldman is an award-winning art photographer. Her artist’s eye is evident is her skilled selection of art and antiques and the cohesive, chic spaces she creates with them. For Feldman, interior design and photography require similar approaches, with a focus on texture, scale and color. She told us, “the composition and perspective you have on a canvas is the same as in a space – it’s dimensional. It’s a way of trying to convey something.”

Lauren Coburn, also a lauded Chicagoland designer, focuses on interior design from an architectural perspective. Her eponymous firm often builds homes from the ground up, creating a seamless, holistic reflection of the client’s taste. Coburn says that, “my roots working as an architect and builder translated into my architectural eye. Our interiors feel very intentional.” 

Feldman and Coburn’s designs are beautifully unique – but their shared affinity for artistry, structure and the unusual led to each selecting a Michael Thompson kite for particular residences.

Feldman has long supported Thompson’s work, and several of her clients have chosen his kites for their homes. For her, the appeal of Thompson’s kites is that they “can be put on the wall unframed, yet they’re paintings. Each is very detailed and geometrical-formed… It’s a collage, fragile but with structure and truly a conversation piece – you’re surprised by it.”  Most recently, she installed Thompson’s “Ungrounded (With Blossoms)” in an elegant condo on Sheridan Road.

Feldman told PAGODA RED that “this space needed a focal point. When you walked in, there was a little table on the wall, but it had nothing to talk to. There has to be a conversation between the art & objects, the room, and the furniture. Everything has to talk to each other.” Throughout the room, this “conversation” includes decorative objects that draw from colors of the kite, including glazed monochrome jars and vases, a versatile ceramic garden stool, and textured floral fabric. Meanwhile, the tree Thompson painted on the kite is echoed with an unusual fiddle-leaf fig. Feldman also emphasized the kite’s linear structure, hanging it between modern French doors and clean-lined curtains.

Feldman notes that Thompson’s kites are “elegant & quiet, but with an edge. You can keep looking at them and finding more. So clever of him to think to put a kite on the wall. You can see the split bamboo revealed on the edges. It’s opposite of what he’s doing on the paper. There’s really a contrast of opposites. They’re just wonderful.” Thompson’s “Dune” kite beautifully shows this juxtaposition. Here, a soft landscape is painted onto silk, which Thompson stretched over a carefully constructed bamboo frame, whose edges peek out and mirror the natural landscape.

For Lauren Coburn, Thompson’s “Winter Pavilion” kite was the perfect choice to complete a client’s foyer in Chicago’s Gold Coast. “Winter Pavilion” is a compelling mixed media work, with bold Chinese characters and a red pavilion door painted across patterned fabric. It was Coburn’s first time selecting a Thompson kite for a client, although she’d admired his work on previous visits to PAGODA RED.

This particular client wanted a mix of elegant furniture and antiques, and has an extensive collection of Tang horses. The result, says Coburn, is a home with “a feminine edge.” 

Coburn appreciates that “Winter Pavilion” brings wonderful texture into the foyer. She surrounded it with modern accents, including a silver bench by Nancy Corsine and a crystal chandelier. The effect is chicly irreverent, like an outfit worn by a skilled fashion stylist. Coburn notes that for her, it’s crucial that “the interiors be seamless with the architecture,” a philosophy reflected in the built-in bookshelves and the open flow between the rooms.

While the trio of unglazed Tang dynasty horses were her client’s priority, the shelves are replete with intriguing objects, including a 19th c. headrest, a petite Buddha head, and Fu lion guardians.

For these projects, Feldman’s and Coburn’s clients leaned into neutral-toned spaces and picked tonal kites that complement them. However, Michael Thompson also creates kites that are colorful, modern and abstract. He draws inspiration from his outstanding collection of ephemera — which he’s collected for years and implements into each collage — including brightly colored kimono silks, vintage papers and antique textiles. His 2025 kites reflect a move toward contemporary abstraction and shapes.

While Feldman, Coburn, and Thompson are all in Chicago, their individual creativity transcends the city itself.

SHOP THE STORY