"Golden Mountain" 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 “Golden Mountain,” Thompson references traditional "shan shui" landscape paintings with a central panel of silken fabric bearing a abstract mountain scene, contrasted by color-blocked rice paper.

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