"Clover Valley II" 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 “Clover Valley II,” Thompson plays with pattern and color, assembling a vibrant landscape of from scraps of silken fabric and saturated parchment paper. Blocks of solid color lend the kite a grid-like composition, interrupted by rivulets of inky brown. A joyful exploration of pattern and color, Thompson describes the kite as an a process of "movement, overlap, stillness, resolution, and conflict."

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