Jonathon Romain says he emerged from seven years in prison “untarnished.” But his paintings–many of them powerful depictions of black men, women, and children in a state of meditation or contemplation–are shaped by his experiences serving time. The works are representations of the inner strength the artist needed to turn his life around in prison. “I don’t think it was a good thing. I think it was a bad thing that I took advantage of,” he says. “I made it work for me.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Romain grew up on the west side around California and Lexington. “It goes without saying that coming up on the west side of Chicago certainly has its inherent difficulties,” he says. “You become desensitized to the criminal activity. I certainly fell prey to those things.” He was an indifferent student and ended up at the bottom of his high school class. Knowing that college was a way to escape the neighborhood, he approached a guidance counselor, who shrugged off his inquiries. So Romain enrolled at Triton College, a junior college in River Grove, and set about improving his scholastic record. His success there won him admission to Bradley University in Peoria a year later.
Romain decided to use his prison time to work on something that had always interested him. “I’ve always had a natural inclination for art,” he says. “Going to prison gave me an opportunity to match that inclination with the time to bring it to fruition.” He started out with pencil and paper but soon learned about painting by watching other inmates. He became comfortable with watercolors, acrylics, and oils. Today he explores a variety of styles ranging from realistic renditions of people (anonymous subjects as well as icons like Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X) to more abstract, colorful work. “If you were to look at my art you could see five different paintings and think it was five different artists.”
