"Open Book" Kite by Michael Thompson

2019
$3,680 USD SOLD
Dimensions
W: 48.25" D: 1.5" H: 36.5"
Materials
Paper
Bamboo
Collection #
CMT193
Estimated Shipping
$108

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 “Open Book,” Thompson layers darkly saturated fragments atop pages of found text. He creates these irregular, inky fragments by sandwiching stained paper between blank pages and using moisture to separate the pigments. The mottled color spreads across the kite, obscuring and revealing the rigid pattern of the text underneath to dynamic visual effect.

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

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