By Dan Ninham
Jonathan Thunder’s journey as an artist started at a young age. “I was into drawing as a youth,” he said. “My high school councilor mentioned that with my drive to draw on anything and everything, that it might be a good idea for me to try going to college to learn more about art and creating art. So after high school that’s what I did.”
Thunder is an enrolled member of the Red Lake Ojibwe. He and his family live in Duluth, MN. Thunder works as a visual artist and visual storyteller.
“I took on painting, creative writing, film, visual effects (VFX), and animation as my main focus,” Thunder added.
Thunder’s medium is influenced by how he feels and hasn’t changed over the years.
“I mainly paint from the hip,” Thunder said. “I make my images fast and intuitively, which means they are driven by what’s happening at that time. I wouldn’t say my style has changed much over the years. But along the way I’ve trimmed things that no longer worked, and nurtured new practices or approaches that keep things interesting to me.”
“I was approached about that project in 2023,” Thunder said. “Larissa Littlewolf, Associate Director of Tribal Training and Certification Partnership [TTCP], was familiar with my work, including a mural I helped with a few years ago.”
According to the TTCP website, “The TTCP operates as an independent program through the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth to provide education, training, and practice application to improve outcomes for American Indian families in the child welfare system.”
“We talked about what things they are working on and what their mission is as a team, working on the delivery of ICWA and MIFPA training statewide. Being a new parent, I was looking forward to creating some visuals for their work environment,” Thunder added.
“At the time of our meeting, I was focused on a body of work centered on the legend of the Mishi Bizhiw, aka the underwater panther, aka the great lynx, aka the big cat that resides under the surface of Gichigami,” said Thunder.
“After moving to Duluth in 2014, I started to learn about this storyline. And eventually it showed up in some of my work including the installation MANIFEST’O which is now at MSP International Airport,” added Thunder.
He said. “I like to position these figures in a protagonist role, living their best life. It’s my way of balancing paranoia with a little pronoia.”
“I drafted up some images of the Mishi Bizhiw in a parental role,” said Thunder. “These drawings led to three large scale paintings on segmented wood panels. This took a few months to complete, partially because I moved from one side of Duluth to the other side of town during the process. Hence, my studio moved, and everything needed to be packed and unpacked.”
Thunder continued to talk about his project work. He said, “By the time I finished the paintings, the Tribal Training and Certification Partnership office was still being renovated from wall to wall, so the canvases stayed with me for another several months. They are now being installed one at a time as the office space is completed.”
“I decided to hire an expert from the Tweed Museum of Art, Dan Radven, to help get the wooden panels mounted properly,” said Thunder. “He is the museum preparator at the Tweed. He and I worked together there when I installed a 30 foot painting in their main floor in 2021. Dan and I have installed two of the works so far, there is one more image that will need to go up when that space is ready.”
In Russ White’s recent story about the work of Jonathan Thunder in MPLSART.COM as a 2022 McKnight Visual Artist Fellow, he stated: “Re-envisioning ancient myths and contemporary cartoons into his own Baroque surrealism, Thunder catalogs the past and present of this place, its peoples, and their problems.”
Thunder was also motivated at a young age to eventually paint murals on building spaces.
“I started making things at a young age,” said Thunder. “I have always enjoyed it. I’ve worked many jobs in this life. Making art is the only one that I have consistently showed up for. I’ve always been excited about seeing art, seeing meaningful films, hearing inspiring music and learning about the lives of great artists. I guess you could say it’s my culture.”
“The Dream Deep mural at Zenith Bookstore was an epic undertaking,” said Thunder. “A 90ft wide x 25ft tall exterior wall in one of the most unpredictable weather cities in the region. I’ve always been a fan of public art and muralists who work at that scale. It was a great challenge to take it on.”
“I learned quite a bit of technique before I started that actual painting. The image is about the story of this region, and seeing oneself in it,” Thunder added.
Cultural identity comes into play as Thunder creates art projects. “I try to create work from what I know,” Thunder said. “This year I’m working on finding some sovereignty in joy. Identity has played a great role in developing the characters or vignettes in my work. My and our identity and how we explore it, alone and together.”
“In an era of ‘doomscrolling’ I hope to inspire. I know what it’s like to live without hope. I also know what it’s like to fix it from within,” added Thunder.
Thunder has advice to give to aspiring artists based on his own experiences and learning. He said, “This answer is just for the aspiring artist. Working artists already know this most likely. Study. Use your individual voice, not the voice of those around you. Find out what sets you apart and use it as a strength. Work hard to develop your practice. I’ll stop there. There is so much to be learned along the way, but every artist needs to learn those lessons for themselves.”
Jonathan Thunder’s artwork can be seen at: https://www.jonthunder.com.
See the Zenith mural project at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35m9siHwT_0.
See YouTube video on Thunder with PBS: https://youtu.be/hs7g7Fzg3OY.
