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Inna Valin

Inna Valin is a St. Paul based photographer whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.  She is a recipient of The McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Photographers and the Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists.

Inna’s inspiration for this series of flora came while walking her dog one spring at the end of a particularly long, bleak Midwestern winter, and marveling at the life springing out of the gardens in her St. Paul neighborhood.  By stripping away the bright colors that distract the eye, Inna’s black and white photography reveals dramatic architectural and sculptural forms in flowers and leaves.  Working on this series also led Inna to meet many of her neighbors, and to hear the stories of their gardens and their lives. 

“I found the gardeners of St. Paul to be thoughtful people who, in the process of nurturing their gardens are also nurturing themselves and their neighborhoods. Perhaps Minnesota’s long winters and short growing season make the blooms in a Northern garden more cherished and exquisite that any others.”

All of the images in this series were created in public and private gardens in St. Paul.

Selected Exhibitions

2004                       
Gallery Sink, Denver, CO

2001           
Minneapolis College of Art & Design – Jerome Foundation/MCAD fellowship for artists

2000                       
Gallery Soap, Kitakakyushu, Japan

1999                       
St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN – McKnight
Photography Fellows Exhibition
Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN

1997           
Rule Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery, Denver, CO
Camera Obscura Gallery, Denver, CO

1995           
Mark Chester Folsom Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Galleri 8, Portland, OR