"Composition in Red (Vapors)" 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.

A combination of print and collage, this work entitled “Composition in Red (Vapors)” condenses the complex processes involved in Thompson’s kite works into a small-scale format. Composed to a rectangular format that recalls his large-scale kites, the work is an abstract landscape of colliding colors and strong, geometric forms. The composition is anchored by a central panel of bright blue paper, layered beneath an overlaid print of crimson red pigment. Carefully-placed fragments of colored art paper and found print media interrupt moments of stark angularity and evoke imagery of rising vapors or plumes of smoke.The final touch to achieve visual cohesion, the artist’s hand is traceable in broad brushstrokes of red and grey paint that introduce irregular texture and unify the collage’s disparate elements.

"Composition in Red (Vapors)," 2022
Michael Thompson
Mono-print and found paper collage.