April 27 - May 31, 2024

 

 

 

Working from found materials, each of Thompson’s works is an exploration of texture and form, regardless of the medium. Whether a kite or memory jug, each work is a collage in its own right, a conceptual process of adding and subtracting, striving for cohesion.

 

 

"Peach Bloom" Kite

 

 

"The kites have developed over the years, beginning as hard-edged abstractions morphing into balanced presentations of Orientalia, then large collages."

- Michael Thompson

 

 

 

"Sawyer" Kite • "Pompeii" Memory Jug

 

 

Each of Michael Thompson's acclaimed fine art kites is a patchwork of stories, crafted from split bamboo frames and vintage ephemera—including fragments of Japanese obis, Korean scrolls, Chinese calligraphy and books.

 

 

 

This is the debut of Thompson's sculptural Memory Jugs, each a kaleidoscope of ceramic shards, found objects and pieces of porcelain he has collected from the banks of the Thames, Kyoto, Turkey and Mexico.

 

 

"Abstraction in Cobalt" Kite • "Caress of Water" Memory Jug

 

"I gather 18th and 19th century pottery shards along the Thames River at low tide in a practice called 'mudlarking.' In turn, I use the shards to decorate stoneware pottery in the manner of memory jugs."

- Michael Thompson

 

 

"Red Meander" Kite • "Composition in Red (Vapors)"


"Graphiti" • "Dune" Kite • "China Cabinet" Memory Jug



"Dappled Light" • "China Cabinet" Memory Jug






Michael Thompson's lively compositions celebrate the rhythms of life and exude a sense of joyous perpetuity. Thompson has earned an international reputation for his kite works, an engrossing project initiated by the artist more than a decade ago.