SEAD Gallery is thrilled to be hosting both local and international artists for our current exhibit, “Retrospective”, which celebrates the first five years of artwork that has circulated through SEAD. Finnish artist Inari Krohn has returned for “Retrospective” after hosting a solo exhibit at the SEAD Gallery in May 2016. Her work is widely respected and showcased worldwide, from her home country of Finland, to SEAD in Downtown Bryan, to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
Krohn graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki after studying abroad at L’ecole des Beaux-Arts, one of the most influential art institutions in France. At the Academy of Fine Arts, she studied printmaking and painting. She knew very early that she would become an artist, and decided at age 14 that she wanted to turn her passion into her career. At this young age, she was constantly painting and drawing, and she quickly realized that it was the only thing she actually wanted to do or study.
Growing up, Krohn’s family had close ties to the Finnish art world, with both an aunt and an uncle who have work in the Finnish National Gallery Ateneum. Her father was an art critic, and many of her parents’ friends were artists. Their home was heavily decorated with art books and she specifically recalls a big book about the collections in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, where she could look at the works of modern artists. She still has that book to this day.
Krohn’s work has developed greatly as her inspiration has changed over the years. When she first began, she focused on human themes, and painted people with bright colors. Eventually, she wished to expand and explore other themes and mediums, which is when she discovered nature watercolors. She now loves to paint nature and her own surroundings. She lives in the countryside and is constantly looking at forests and fields, which inspires her greatly. Her interest in the history of nature, including entomology, zoology and botany, also lends to this inspiration. Krohn also has a heart for Italian culture and landscapes, which is what she has been focusing on lately. When Krohn delved into watercoloring, she started off small but then her pieces became larger and she began to enlist different techniques and connected her printmaking to her painting. Now, she uses both watercolor, oil and printmaking, mostly etching and woodblock print. With all of these different techniques, Krohn says she “has a feeling that there is always something exciting to come”.
In every artistic endeavor, Krohn’s goal is “simply to work honestly trying to express [her] feelings, [her] sight of the world, and the beauty of the life.”
We are honored to get to showcase such a passionate and talented artist here at SEAD. Come view her work in “Retrospective”, on display until March 10th.
