Sensuality Captured

By Jillian Locke

Sensuality has a new name, and that name is Robert Varisco. A true artist, in every sense of the word, Varisco continues to see the world and its inhabitants through the same “eye” he began developing behind the 35mm Cannon camera his mother gave him when he was 16 years old.

“It’s a damn fine camera. I still shoot with it,” says Varisco. “I’ve been doing art all my life, whether it is through painting, writing, and pretty much every possible medium of art, I’ve dabbled in it.” This inherent love and talent can be seen in all of his works, whether it’s through his paintings, his gouaches, collages or photographs. And there is something else inherent that comes through all of his multi-media explorations: an obsession with the female form.

“I’ve always liked women,” Varisco offers with a smile. “It’s easy to make art from something when you love it.” Varisco embarked on his first nude photo shoot when he was in his late teens, a session that can trace its roots of inspiration back to Bill Brandt’s photography. “I remember viewing his gorgeous pictures at the public library where I grew up. I’ve tried to mimic him over the years, but I’m not sure I’ve done a very good job at it,” Varisco humbly adds.

But oh, he has indeed. One look at Brandt’s work sheds new light on Varisco’s: beautiful, sprawling nude character studies in black and white that bring elegance and beauty ~ rather than aversion ~ to the nude form. “There’s a fine line, because folks in America associate nudes with negative ideas – to be nude is to be ‘naughty’…the nude form is underappreciated and demonized way too much.” Although Varisco’s nudes are dripping with sensuality, there is nothing “naughty” about them. Instead, they capture the inner world of the subject, showing not just skin, but the glowing energy and persona of the individual beneath.

Some of his most striking pieces include those of “Anne,” whom he captures emerging from a Jacuzzi and exploring stone ruins, of “Colby,” whose natural peace with herself, her minimalist environment, and her morning cup of tea are simply expressed, and perhaps the most riveting and mysterious of them all, “Reluctant Francis,” who is blurred and drenched in shadow…and also the subject of Varisco’s most sensual photo shoot. “I did a shoot with a fairly famous person whose name you would definitely recognize. I shot her in a hotel room in Times Square a few years ago, and she wanted to be called ‘Reluctant Francis’ ~ it was a painfully sensual shoot. I shot it in a way I thought I could get some simple, sexy pictures, and not reveal who she is.”

Varisco looks to capture the raw essence of a person that is locked away, beneath the flesh, and show the veiled beauty. “I’ve been approached by magazines for fitness and health photography, and have turned it down. I don’t know that I would know how to do that, but there is a kind of athleticism in posing nude and shooting nude pictures…people do this thing called ‘fitness and sports,’ and in the back of their mind, they do it to look good. When we think of ourselves looking good, a good part of that is how we look like without clothes on, whether we admit it or not.”

Varisco’s approach to art ~ and life ~ are through the pure and unadulterated eyes of an artist. Where we look at ourselves and see imperfections, he sees the depth of a character and the story of who they are, pouring out purely and indiscriminately through each and every perfect flaw.

Visit Varisco Studio at 93 Prospect Street, Fitchburg, and feast your eyes on his websites: variscora.com, artwanted.com/artist.cfm?artid=20050, .facebook.com/robert.varisco

Title: The Beautiful Leilani Tootoo, Wilmington NC
[Canon AE-1, TMax 400]

“This is the beautiful Leilani Tootoo, shot along the waterfront in Wilmington NC a decade ago. Leilani remains a dear friend and has never said “no” to any request to photograph her. I have literally dozens of pics of her covering a span of years. Lei was a biotechnician, model, lover of fashion and alcohol, fitness addict, west coast triathlete, who lived in nearly every major city in the USA, and now a mother of two, happily married.” ~ R.V.

Title: Anne in London
[Canon AE-1, TMax 400]

“This is Anne (above), shot in a hotel in London England in 2003.” ~ R.V.

Title: Colby in Bed with Tea #2
[Canon AE-1, TMax 400]

“This is Colby, shot in her small, spare apartment in Pennsylvania a few years ago. I met her through her lover, a guy I drank with sometimes. Colby had a kind of autism, I believe, disconnected from here-and-now and very connected with something unseen and personal. She rarely spoke to anyone, including her lover. She appeared, she drank, she worked, she walked the small town and had dreams that, I think, she shared with no one. In any case, this tiny single session is the only time I ever photoged her. It was enough.” ~ R.V.