Art Major Taylor Champoux

By | Anna Van Voorhis, The Mac Weekly

Name: Taylor Champoux ’13 
Hometown: Woodbury, Minnesota

What are your extracurricular involvements?
I co-chair the Art Alliance. We publish The Lion and run the Drawing Co-Op on Thursday evenings.

Who are some of your favorite artists?
John Singer Sargent, Rembrandt, Carlos Santana, Paul Cézanne, Norman Rockwell, and Fleetwood Mac.

When did you first become interested in art?
I drew a lot of cartoons in junior high, and then in high school I wanted to become better at realism. I’ve always loved drawing people, especially faces, which resulted in a lot of really awesome looking faces and less awesome disproportionate bodies. My experience at Macalester has allowed me to expand my media and grow within those I was already interested in.

Why did you come to Macalester?
It’s funny, because I was dead set on going to Carleton but got waitlisted. I was so upset I threw my Macalester acceptance packet in the trash, but luckily my parents fished it out—thanks Mom and Dad! Since I’m from a Twin Cities suburb, it was convenient to visit Mac, but I did so with no intention of enrolling. Then I had an amazing night of fun with my host, and afterwards there wasn’t a question that I was going. 

When did you decide to be an art major?
I came in thinking about biology, then chemistry, but I burned out on that after sophomore year and decided to pursue Studio Art. I have never regretted my decision.

How does your art interact with the campus?
This is definitely one of my fixations—finding my own space in society. I love the idea of public art and making art accessible to everyone in an interactive way. I enjoy looking at art in museums, but I understand why some people don’t. We need to keep growing the art movement to gradually include more people, to find different niches. I also love seeing the many community members who regularly attend the Drawing Co-op. It’s great to see how we’re allowing the community to grow artistically, especially since we don’t charge an attendance fee.

Could you describe your senior seminar project?
I’m working with the concepts of emotion, color, fragility of memory, and expression. I’m overly sentimental and manifest this by hoarding things. I love going through my stuff and sparking the memories associated with particular objects. Partly I save things because I’m terrified of forgetting. I want to reflect this in my art alongside the fleeting and ever-changing nature of human emotion. 

What media do you most enjoy working in and why?
My first loves were drawing and painting, but I’m partial to almost anything. If I had more time, I’d likely work more in ceramics because I love the intense feeling I get when I’m sculpting clay.

How do you see art taking a role in your future?
It has to be there. I don’t know what exactly I’d like to do, but I know I won’t work in a job I don’t love. I’m always soul-searching and thinking about what I want, and eventually it will come to me.