This image is from the series, “Hide the Sun” and illustrates a landscape of personal reflection and contemplation on the dualities in life. While sunlight is absorbed by dark backgrounds during the day and absent at night, the color yellow flows through the series providing a simulated source of illumination. Yellow is the most visible color of the spectrum. Next to black, it appears brighter than white. Yellow is associated with enlightenment and optimism but also caution.

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 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.

McCartney holds an MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and lives and works in Minneapolis, MN.