Chip Thomas: The Good Fight

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CHIP THOMAS AKA JETSONORAMAARTICLE BY DIANA KIRK | APRIL 11, 2017MEDICINE & ARTDr. Chip Thomas, also known by his artist name Jetsonorama, lives in TubaCity, Arizona, on Navajo land. For thirty years, he’s worked as a doctor in thePainted Desert region, treating patients with common health issues as wellas older patients suffering from mining exposure during uranium extraction.8
MEDICINE + ARTSeeking to bring awareness to the issuesfaced by people in this region, Thomasbegan using a lifelong photographic hobbyto create “wheatpaste” posters - large photos ofNavajo residents glued with a water-flour mixtureto water tanks, grain silos, and roadside art stands.I spoke with him recently in Joshua Tree, California,where he was working on a new installation.Photos top to bottom:1. Chip Thomas with hismural at Cow Springsby Dawn Kish, 2016.2. Rose Hurley and hergreat Grandson, Edzavierby Jetsonorama, 2019.3. Stephanie in Cow Springsby Jetsonorama, 2014; photoby Ben Knight, 2015.JUST AS ESCAPED SLAVES FOUND SOLACEIN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES BACK IN THEDAY, I HAVE FOUND THAT HERE WHERE I FEELTHAT THE WORK I DO MAKES A DIFFERENCE.What led you to take your photography ofNavajo residents and wrap it around issuessuch as global warming and social justice?I started photographing in black and whitedocumentary style in 1987, when I first movedto the Navajo nation. From the beginning,I enjoyed spending time with people as theywent about their day-to-day chores such ashauling wood, coal, and water, or just beingwith family. I attempted to tell storiesof community members I photographed.As a person of color raised in the South, myconcern for social justice comes easy. I’ve alwaysbeen interested in cultures from around the world.Social studies was my favorite subject in primaryschool. Photographing and storytelling in the contextof the reservation was an organic evolution.Explain how your art connects withissues of health and the environment.As a physician, I see a lot of older men withchronic lung problems who use supplementaryoxygen in order to perform activities of dailyliving. The majority worked in the uranium mineson the Navajo nation in the WWII and Cold Warera and are suffering health consequences fromthe lack of protection and information affordedto them at that time. When companies startedmining uranium here in the 1950s and studyingthe Navajo miners (without telling them of thehealth consequences of their work), it was thoughtinitially that the Diné, or Navajo, had a genethat prevented them from getting cancer becausethe rates were so low. However, various cancerrates in the Diné exceed the national average.In light of multinational mining companieswanting to mine the north and south rims ofthe Grand Canyon for uranium, which will betransported across the western part of the Navajo9
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
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Page 11 and 12: IT’S ABOUTWORKING FORSOCIAL JUSTI
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Page 15 and 16: PUTTING INTERIORS ON EXTERIORSTo tr
Page 17 and 18: ART CAN BE USED TO FOSTERCOMMUNICAT
Page 19 and 20: A BOOK OF ACTIVIST ART WAS PUBLISHE
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