Ripon College Days

Jamie Lichon [Click to enlarge]

For junior Jamie Lichon art is more than a casual distraction. It's a self-defining passion that's pervasive in her everyday life.

"I have been doing art forever basically," she says. "Art is always incorporated in my daily activities. Just walking to class or anything else I do, I'm always observing, trying to find things that would make good subjects and mentally record them so I can get back to them later."

An artist of many media, included in Lichon's portfolio are drawings, sculptures and paintings characterized by the polarization of grayscale and color.

"What I notice with my work is either it's colorless, in black and white with maybe a little accent color, or it's almost like overkill with bright colors."

Just as her art varies between flat and relief, grayscale and color, her work also ranges from miniature to life-size. Her largest paintings are murals she created at home in West Bend, Wis., where in high school she painted a mural for the historical society.

"I practiced on my own room before I did it anywhere else," she says. "I don't know how I convinced my mom to let me do that."

Like the mural in her own bedroom, which depicts ecosystems throughout the world - mountainous terrain, African savanna, ocean and rainforest - the most notable element in Lichon's work is their preoccupation with the natural world, a fascination that's rooted in Lichon's own childhood memories when she and her sister, five years her elder, would roam freely outdoors.

"We'd always be outside and in the woods somewhere getting into trouble, falling into mud pits and ponds and basically ruining all of our clothes one way or another," says Lichon.

"Climbing trees was a great part of my childhood," she adds.

It's fitting then that while her work can broadly be categorized as depictions of the organic, natural world, she cites trees as a particular favorite. "Trees have so much character. There's so much potential for the artistic eye."

A double major in art and biology, art was the unexpected path for Lichon, whose family is dominated by degrees in medicine and engineering. Lichon says she's not sure where to attribute her interest in art.

But, she reconnects with the family she cites as being of incredible importance in her life on two levels: biology and athletics. As an athlete, she's one of Ripon's current tennis leaders. As a student of biology, she says the field adds to her artistic endeavors.

"Biology is very connected with art because I like the environmental, organic side of the world and studying these from a different perspective through biology is a great way of knowing your subject and being able to bring much more life into art."

The college experience has also altered how Lichon defines her style. "My style now is more sketchy, and I like to think it's more energetic in a way because it's not very precise."

After Ripon she's looking forward to travel, experiencing nature through outdoor programs and, of course, art.

"It'd be ideal just to do art for the rest of my life, but at the very least it'll be incorporated either on the side or through a job because I definitely am not going to stop doing art for any reason."

Article Tools