Chip Thomas: The Good Fight

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CHIP THOMAS AKA JETSONORAMAPUTTINGINTERIORS ONEXTERIORSArrowhead Village Installation by Jetsonorama, 2018.I WOULD LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE JUST APPRECIATEOUR SHARED HUMANITY AND THINK ABOUTEACH OTHER A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY.14
PUTTING INTERIORS ON EXTERIORSTo truly excel at one activity is an accomplishment foranyone. Some people, however, dedicate their lives toapproaching the world from several different angles.Chip Thomas is a superlative example of the latter.ARTICLE BY AMELIA RINA | JULY 19, 2018After narrowly escaping ayouth spent in militaryschool, Thomas went to aQuaker Junior High School in theNorth Carolina mountains. Thisearly exposure to pacifist thinkingstayed with him through his years inmedical school, punctuated by tripsto New York City to experience the’80s street-art scene, and his eventualmedical residency on the Navajo Nation.Now having lived there for overthree decades, Thomas combinesthe healing drive of his medicalpractice with the creative force ofhis art to produce large-scale wheatpastephotographic installations onbuildings throughout the reservationand cities across the United States.The images feature local people,many of whom face economic hardshipand social prejudice. Thomas’sinstallations act as a tribute to thelocal culture and a defiant declarationthat the resilient communitydeserves respect and visibility.- Amelia RinaCan you talk a bit about yourbackground and how you endedup on the Navajo Nation workingwith the local community?I finished medical school in 1983,which the federal government paidfor through a program called theNational Health Service Corps. Atthe end of my training I had a fouryearobligation to pay the governmentback with time, as opposedto money, and I chose to do timehere on the Navajo Nation abouttwo hours north of Flagstaff, AZ.Was photography your firstentry point into your artpractice? When did you startmaking photographs?I’m not formally trained. I’m fromNorth Carolina originally, and I wasgoing to start junior high school in1969, the same year the public schoolsystem desegregated. My parentswere concerned about the amountof violence that I would face, and Iended up attending a small Quakerjunior high school. I first useda darkroom and a camera at thatschool when I was about thirteen.When I came to the Navajo Nation,it occurred to me that I had nevertaken the time to study photography.I knew what I liked and thestyle that I gravitated to, so withthe help of photographer friends inFlagstaff, I started teaching myselfdarkroom techniques. I builta darkroom my first year here in’87, and as frequently as possible Iwould go out into the communityand attempt to shoot in a documentarystyle, telling people’s stories.15
Page 1 and 2: CHIP THOMASAKA JETSONORAMATHE GOOD
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTSHIS WORK REFLECTS
Page 5 and 6: TEXT BY JUSTSEEDS ARTISTS’ COOPER
Page 7 and 8: I COME FROM A TRADITION OFHUMANISTI
Page 9 and 10: MEDICINE + ARTSeeking to bring awar
Page 11 and 12: IT’S ABOUTWORKING FORSOCIAL JUSTI
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Page 17 and 18: ART CAN BE USED TO FOSTERCOMMUNICAT
Page 19 and 20: A BOOK OF ACTIVIST ART WAS PUBLISHE
Page 21 and 22: EFERENCESREFERENCESREFERENCESDietri

Chip Thomas: The Good Fight

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