Protect Public Lands
Rokkaku kite, ink on kozo paper, bamboo, string
kite fabrication by Stevie Choi
commissioned by Clockshop for the 2nd Annual Community & Unity People's Kite Festival, Los Angeles State Historic Park
2022
Photo by Ian Byers-Gamber, Courtesy of Clockshop
In 2022 Clockshop commissioned artist Audrey Chan to design five large-scale Rokkaku-style kites for our second annual Community & Unity People’s Kite Festival in May 2022. The Rokkaku kites are traditional six-sided Japanese kites and are crafted from Japanese mulberry paper. In the spirit of the Kite Festival, Chan designed the message Protect Public Lands, which was hand-stenciled on mulberry paper with a block printing ink. The design is inspired by both Chinese paper-cut and Mexican Papel Picado traditional styles. The stencil images on the kites draw from the rich cultural histories of the Los Angeles Historic Park and surrounding neighborhoods. Storytelling through allegorical imagery, Chan designed abstractions of a Tongva reed dwelling, plants native to the L.A. River, a water wheel connected to Zanja Madre, and Kite Master Tyrus Wong.
Protect Public Lands Rokkaku Kite was fabricated and flight tested by Stevie Choi.
See the kite in action in LA Time’s article here.
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Photo by Gina Clyne, Courtesy of Clockshop
