Paste up inspired by Jestonorama, photograph by Lillian Frost

Jetsonorama. So, what’s an old black doctor doing wheat pasting on the Navajo nation? Like the brothers told me in Brazil, I’m just trying to keep a good feeling going round and around.

I came to work at a small clinic on the Navajo Nation twenty six years ago, bright eyed and full of idealism and misconceptions. I fell in love with the Diné people and the land and chose to stay.

The Navajo Nation is located in the Four Corners region of the United States (U.S) The land area is 27,500 square miles in size which is larger than the state of West Virginia. It is home to roughly 160,000 people. Coal, natural gas, oil, and uranium are found in abundance here. The Navajo should be one of the wealthiest groups of people living in the U.S. However, because of the way the contracts were written to exploit those natural resources, the Navajo people are amongst the poorest people in the U.S. Health problems on the reservation reflect those of other impoverished communities.

I began the "Painted Desert Project," a project that invites international artists to a Navajo Reservation in Arizona to paint roadside vendors' stands. The murals have attracted tourists traveling to the Grand Canyon, boosting business for the roadside vendors.

The paste ups at locations around the Pilbara are inspired by the work of Jetsonorama.