(gentle music) (coffee grinding) - Funny thing about these artists interviews is at some point you know, I had to let go of the idea that I was gonna tell this really coherent story about myself from beginning to end.

And the more that I've watched other artists interviews I realize that none of 'em are really like a linear storyline.

It's all bits and pieces that you pick up about the artist which is probably, the best way to do it.

I listen to a lot of artist podcasts too and there's a lot of times when I'm just like this (bleep) drank too much coffee before his interview.

This guy should have drank some coffee or something.

I don't know if you get hit somewhere right in the middle, it'll be alright.

Cheers.

- [Interviewer] -Cheers.

(upbeat music) - These are the perfect size cause they actually fit in my Jeep and they're pretty easy to transport, ship.

Where should I look?

Just right at you?

- [Interviewer] Yeah, look at me.

- Yeah.

Okay.

My name is Jonathan Thunder and I work as a visual artist.

What kind of art do I do?

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

- Well I generally work as a painter.

(upbeat music) I also do illustration.

This is a CD cover I'm making for hip hop artist outta Minneapolis and I've made short films.

And one of the things that I like about working at this size is that it really brings your content to life.

Like when things are that scale, you know you feel like it's more, like it could be a thing.

I might have to put a nail there.

This is my homemade easel system.

- [Interviewer] Can you describe a couple of the paintings you've done that you really like?

- Yeah, I could pull something up and put it over there.

How about, I'll just pull up the last one I made.

I don't know how to say any of my work is my favorite cause you know, I'm such a hard critic on myself.

One of the last paintings that I made was called The Hibernation of Reason produces Monsters.

The theme is that were all in the same boat in the Ojibwe Clan system, the bear is said to be kind of like the keeper of the medicine.

And it's interesting to see how a portion of our population has suddenly created a huge distrust about our community that uses science to create medicine.

I try to talk about my inspiration so that people understand where I'm coming from, but in the end a lot of intuitive decisions are made and the painting sort of starts painting itself.

Great.

You know, my art has taken me into the heart of Minnesota's Ojibwe community, which growing up I really didn't think I was ever gonna be a part of.

I grew up in Brooklyn Center which is a suburb in the northwest area of Minneapolis.

I'm more of like a urban Indian they call it.

Growing up in the eighties and nineties, being around so many different kinds of people, I definitely have an ability to draw, I guess from a variety of culture.

Films, magazines like Mad Magazine, comic books, MTV.

- [Armstrong] That is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

- I like to comment on Disney characters sometimes just cause you know, I grew up with that stuff.

Old Nintendo characters, I put Bugs Bunny in some of my paintings and have him sort of be in compromised positions and stabbed.

When I look back at some of the Saturday morning cartoons that I grew up with as a child, I had no idea how problematic they were.

- [Bugs Bunny] Gee, that's a good idea Geronimo.

- Politically incorrect stuff like Bugs Bunny shooting Indians and singing one little, two little, three little Indians and then crossing one out halfway and saying oops, that was a half breed.

You know, I was a little Indian boy sitting up Saturday mornings eating my cereal, watching it because I love Bugs Bunny, but I never knew that was a bad thing cause I was a little boy, you know?

And this is the culture that I'm being fed every day.

So it's fun to use those characters the way that I want to tell a story since they have always taken the liberty with cultures to tell their stories however they want.

For me that feels like reappropriating imagery to do what I wanted to do.

This one's probably done.

Sign it, put it on Etsy.

Don't remember feeling the Ojibwe a lot.

It wasn't until student life when I went to school that I actually started to really dig deep into books about Ojibwe stories, culture, language.

When I find a really good story, like I like to harness that spirit and put it into some of my work.

This is a scene where the character gives birth to himself and then passes away.

So these are the floating heads that are all animated.

Yeah how it turns out is pretty sweet cause you can add all of these effects at the same time.

After I got outta school, a lot of my friends went out to California to be Hollywood visual effects artists.

And I'm glad I didn't go.

I just started working with poets, theaters, documentary filmmakers, local Ojibwe language teachers and I would get hired to design these animation sequences for their film.

I've designed animation for important movements like the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women which seeks to tell the stories of women who are no longer with their families due to violence.

That kind of content for me is important because I've been affected by that in my own life.

I've had multiple people in my life that were murdered and their murders were never investigated fully.

You know, it was just kind of botched investigation which is something that you find a lot of the times with these stories is that evidence was mishandled there was no real effort given to it or the case just went cold.

It's frustrating to see that and I guess there's nothing that I can do about what happened with them but what I can do is try to use my art to help tell the stories of some people.

(airplane roars) The Manifest'o installation at the Minneapolis airport is a compilation of three stories that I've adapted from Ojibwe storytelling.

And I think one of the great things about the location of that exhibit is that people who are coming from all over the planet can be exposed to a little glimpse of Ojibwe language and Ojibwe storytelling.

And I think that helps with visibility of a culture of a community, you know, that lives here.

There are seven Ojibwe nations in Northern Minnesota and a lot of people don't know that.

So people coming from around the world, can be introduced to that here.

I've been a lot of places in the world.

I would live in Minnesota for the rest of my life, if that's the way it turns out, I feel like Lake Superior you could say that it has a spiritual energy to it.

It inspires me, it keeps me humble or right sized.

And I think it comes from maybe always being next to something that's wild.

Something that you can't tame it.

Something that could take you if it wanted to and that feels alive, like that makes me feel like every day I'm just grateful to be alive and make the most of it.

A lot of times I'm just telling a story with my work and sometimes that story is inspired by what's happening in the world.

Sometimes it's inspired by what's happening in my life.

Becoming a parent has changed everything about me.

And I remember prior to being a parent hearing people say stuff like, it's gonna change everything.

And I was just like, no, I'm always gonna be who I am.

I am who I am.

But yeah, it's changed everything for the better.

I feel like the messages just have more life now, because I feel like I have more life.

It's definitely kind of helped me to focus not only on my practice, but like who I want to be, who I wanna become, the kind of messages that I put out, in my work.

It was just sitting around wondering what he would look like when he showed up and who he would be.

Little space baby.

I honestly never know what to say in these interviews about my work.

I guess I just take it day to day, like every day is a new opportunity for a new idea.

So to ask me what I'm working on next or to ask me what I have planned for next year is a question that I don't know.

This life that I live, I guess as an artist, as a full-time artist is a mystery to me.

And I think that's why I work with dreams and I'm being sincere when I say this.

Reality is often more surreal than dreams.

Any dream.

It's just all so surreal.

(music) I'm really lucky, I work as an artist full-time and somehow I managed, I can afford the espresso beans that I really, really like.

(slurps coffee) Totally worth the price.

(light music) - [Narrator] Postcards is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

On the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

The Lake Region Arts Council's Arts calendar, an arts and cultural heritage funded digital calendar showcasing upcoming art events and opportunities for artists in West Central Minnesota.

On the web at lrac4calendar.org.

Playing today's new music plus your favorite hits, 96.7kram.

Online at 967kram.com.

(peaceful rhythmic music)