Chip Thomas

Chip Thomas, also known by his street art moniker jetsonorama, is a physician, public artist, and activist who practiced medicine in the Navajo Nation for over 30 years. He said, "In June of 2009 I started a self-funded, public art project on the Navajo Nation, Western Agency, I called Big. I went back through 22 years of negatives and started blowing photographs up larger than life and wheat pasting them onto roadside stands and abandoned buildings. I'm still amazed at the resonance this project has with people on the reservation and amongst travelers passing through. I'm thankful for having found this form of self-expression as a means of relating to the community where I've lived and worked for almost half of my life."

Thomas’ large-scale wheat-pasted photo murals bring together images, memories, emotions, people, and stories deeply rooted in the land, history, and cultural backdrop of the Navajo Nation. He disrupts vast landscapes by activating large structures as canvases for murals that uplift community members as they see themselves and their stories larger than life. His murals have served as vehicles for public health announcements during the COVID-19 pandemic and as sites of collaboration with other artists and activist organizations. The murals also communicate with non-Indigenous viewers, bringing attention to the issues that persist in many tribal nations. 

Thomas activated the Museum’s lobby with his iconic photo murals as Albuquerque Museum’s 2024 Visiting Artist. He was also one of the participating artists in Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue (September 7, 2024 – March 2, 2025).

Albuquerque Museum’s Visiting Artist program is generously supported by the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation.


Image:
Chip Thomas, panaceas, promises + problems, Jordan, Jr on horseback and Cyndy John Begaye holding a photo of her dad, a uranium miner
2024, mural installation view at Albuquerque Museum