"Ikebana" Kite by Michael Thompson

Based in Chicago, IL, contemporary artist Michael Thompson creates unique kites, collages and mixed media works assembled from material fragments of past and present collected in his travels. His ongoing series of large-scale kites bridge the gap between flat art and sculpture, each crafted of split bamboo frames covered with stretched muslin and a collage of vintage ephemera – including kimonos, obis, paintings, scrolls, drawings, metal leaf, bleeding paper, book pages, or anything with a story to tell.

In this bamboo kite entitled “Ikebana,” Thompson beautifully layers darkly saturated fragments atop pages of found text. A repurposed calligraphy scroll panels the left side, brushed with black ink with full flower blossoms and leafy foliage, while delicate pine branches grow upwards from the bottom. Vintage Japanese block prints adorn the right side of the kite, each with a different display of ikebana, the refined art of flower arrangement. Like an ikebana arrangement, Thompson’s treatment of the found materials enhance and elevate, reimagining brushed calligraphy as graphic patterns and uniting disparate elements with a wash of dark color. The mottled blue and purple pigments spread across the kite, obscuring and revealing the text beneath to dynamic visual effect.

"Ikebana," 2024
Michael Thompson
Split bamboo, canvas, found paper, silk, pigments.