When asked what message @Jetsonorama tries to convey in his work, he only had one word—love.
James “Chip” Thomas was born in Raliegh, N.C. 55 years ago, and he has spent his life in a variety of places. He graduated from Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tenn.,went on to finish his residency in Toledo, Ohio, and finally moved to the Navajo Nation in Arizona in1987.
Thomas laughing at his sister, Amber Thomas, trying to get on her pony. Photo courtesy of James Martin.He works at Inscription House Health Center and currently resides in Shonto, Ariz. But through it all, it was a trip to Brazil in 2009 that inspired him to create street art.
“I decided to start doing a public art project on the reservation but enlarging my black and white photographs and wheatpasting them to the sides of structures along the roadside,” Thomas says. “I love the idea of art being in public spaces for everyone to experience.”
He and Yote, another street artist, did several artistic collaborations across Arizona between 2009 and 2011. They planned to get their favorite street artists to paint murals on the reservation. Unfortunately, Thomas was left to undertake this project on his own. He calls this The Painted Desert Project, after his place of residence.
“In the three years I was wheatpasting my images onto roadside stands, I learned from the roadside vendors that they appreciated the art because it encouraged more tourists to stop and the vendors told of having interesting exchanges with the tourists about the art as well as selling them jewelry,” he says. “I’ve been shut down by local people as well as by the police in Phoenix. However, 90 percent of the feedback I get is positive and supportive.”
Thomas’s works are gigantic and eye-grabbing. They are designed for cars speeding down the freeway at 70 mph and need to “register quickly”.
Art brings out life in the building. Photo courtesy of Chip Thomas.Though wheatpasting murals is more tedious and usually requires more people than completing a small canvas painting, Thomas feels his gigantic works are more universal. He says that the audience for artwork in galleries is limited by class and artistic tastes.
And if he didn't become the artist he is today:
“I’m not an artist, and my primary gig is as a physician. As I see it, both pursuits are about restoring balance so people can walk in beauty. One medium involves art; the other involves medicine. The goal of both is to inspire people to inspire people to realize their full potential.”
A map of The Painted Desert installations can be seen here, and you can see more of Chip Thomas’s work on his blog.
To view some of my artwork, feel free to visit mabmeddowsmercury.deviantart.com. You can also tweet me at @DamianoAlec or email me at Alec.Damiano@asu.edu.
