"Moss" 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 “Moss,” Thompson manipulates dark ink to create expanses of mottled color on either side of a central panel of traditional calligraphy. He creates these irregular patterns by sandwiching stained paper between blank pages and using moisture to separate the pigments. The textured, moss-like forms spread across the kite with organic progression, breaking up the rigid pattern underneath.

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