"Bucolic" Kite by Michael Thompson

Chicago-based artist Michael Thompson creates unique kites crafted from split bamboo frames covered with stretched muslin and a collage of vintage Asian ephemera—including fragments of fabric, scrolls, drawings, and books collected during his travels.

In this kite entitled "Bucolic" Thompson creates balance from colored rice paper, fragments of painted scrolls, and scraps of Japanese obi silk. The layered collage is united by a wash of indigo and turquoise pigments that seem to spill out from the center of the kite. Evoking a pastoral landscape, the kite is dotted with natural elements such as floral silks and handmade paper pressed with leaves, whilst panels of deep blue color evoke crashing waves and the movement of water against a shore.

Thompson has earned an international reputation for his kite works, an engrossing project initiated by the artist more than a decade ago.

Split bamboo, muslin, cotton, silk, rice paper, pigments.