P A U L A M c C A R T N E Y
Paula McCartney, In/Direct Alignment #1, 2022
In/Direct Alignment combines Paula McCartney’s photography and ceramic practice to explore the interconnectedness of light and shadow; presence and absence. The series uses the language of black and white analog photography with its negative and positive, minimal palette and strong contrast. These abstract works dialog with the artist’s concrete experiences as a mother, satisfying a continuous yearning for balance and connection. As with the object’s relationship to light and shadow, an inseparable connection exists between she and her son.
W O R K S
A B O U T T H E A R T I S T
Paula McCartney makes artist books, photographs, and ceramics that illustrate her collaborations with the natural world and consider ways that light activates both objects and environments. She has received fellowships in both Artist Books and Photography from the McKnight Foundation and grants from Women’s Studio Workshop, the Aaron Siskind Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board.
McCartney’s photographs have been exhibited nationally in solo exhibitions at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Her books are included in the artist book collections of the Walker Art Center, Museum of Modern Art, Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University, Getty Research Institute, New York Public Library among many others. She has two published monographs Bird Watching and A Field Guide to Snow and Ice. She holds an MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and a certificate in Creative Studies from the International Center for Photography.