Simpatico Artists Show Photos, Sculpture

John Cino and Pamela Waldroup share a commonality in their interpretations of form but work in entirely different mediums. Photo by Pamela Waldroup

By Sophia Ricco
sricco@longislandergroup.com

Working in two different mediums, artists John Cino and Pamela Waldroup have found commonality.

The artists, who are exhibiting together at fotofoto gallery in Huntington, explore dimensionality in their own ways. Titled Sympathetic Sensibilities, the show reflects “our shared sensibilities regarding form, rhythm, shape, and nature,” Waldroup said.

They came together when Cino selected Waldroup’s pieces for a Patchogue Arts Council exhibit he was curating. As curator Cino was unable to show his work at that show, but Waldroup went to one of his openings and felt the connection between their work.

Cino is from Patchogue and welcomed the idea of bringing his creations to a new community.

“I would have never even dreamed of bringing my work there until she had the idea,” Cino said. “She felt there was resonance between our work and thought it would be an interesting idea to put them together.”

Waldroup felt Cino’s work would complement hers well.

“Last year I had a solo show there, but this year I wanted to do something different. What John and I have done is transform the space,” Waldroup said.

“What I like about when I walk into the gallery now is there is a conversation that you can feel between his work and mine,” Waldroup said.

In the gallery, their pieces are integrated together, with Cino’s sculptures placed around Waldroup’s photographs, as Waldroup describes it, “a marriage of forms.”

Sculptor John Cino carves sensual wavelike forms in wood, focusing on texture. Photographer Pamela Waldroup explores similar qualities in the subjects she photographs. Photo by Pamela Waldroup

 “I experience the rhythmic ebb and flow in his work much like the meditative involvement I feel when creating my photographs,” Waldroup said. “The contour lines and dark values created by crisp edges juxtaposed against deep recesses and open spaces in John‘s pieces create a sense of dancing delicacy and solid foundation simultaneously.”

In her work, Waldroup puts an emphasis on a subject’s lines, shadows and contrast. Cino does the same in a three-dimensional form.

“I think in her work she captures some things that resonate with me,” Cino said. “There’s the rhythm that you find in her pieces, but there’s also the sense that what she photographs is more than just a picture of a thing. In her photographs the object itself is so dominant that the background disappears and the focus is on the object, which is what sculpturing really is. I look at her photographs as being very sculptural.”

Waldroup has a fine arts degree but a workshop in Florence introduced her to photography. She taught fine art and digital photography at Northport High School for 32 years until retiring last year.

“I approach photography like a print maker, I print my own images after making edits in Photoshop,” Waldroup said. “But the printing part of it is one of parts I enjoy the most of everything, it allows me to go back to my origins.”

For Cino, he found his love for sculpting in college and knew this would be what he would pursue for the rest of his life.

“I just discovered that I really liked to work with my hands,” Cino said. “It freed my mind to explore. . . Just like some people have a heightened sense of color, I think the sense of space is something certain people have a deeper, more profound experience with.”

His pieces falls into two categories, a free flowing wave and a rectangular box with waves inside, he considers this to be like a book and the markings are a “language”.

“I think of the way things move,” Cino said. “I’m very interested in music and dance, together your body will move to the music and the body sometimes translates into the sculptures I make.”

An artist’s reception will be held at the gallery this Saturday, Oct. 13, 5-7 p.m. The artists will also be at fotofoto gallery during Huntington Art Walk, Sunday, Oct. 21, noon to 4 p.m.