Wichman's paintings are strongly narrative, presenting Goya-esque tableaux of human figures caught in bizarre dramatic scenarios that are satirical metaphors for aspects of social life and behaviour. Through these operatic scenes, set against foreboding grey skies streaked occasionally with light, Wichman has examined the nature of class, aristocracy and revolution, social gatherings, politics, art, performance and religion in both historical and contemporary societies.

As Donald Bassett notes, broad themes of human passion and social responsibility, and human passion and the intellect, recur in Wichman's work. The savagery and despair of the characters in Wichman's paintings ultimately presents a grim view of human nature, its dark greed and secret ugliness as it takes every opportunity to exploit, betray, abuse and profit from its fellow men; yet the paintings equally suggest that man, for better or for worse, is a social animal, inextricably bound up in the power structures and rituals, the behaviours and comforts, of the mass of humans that makes up a society.