Paula Cahill cannot stop painting and she has no plans to quit. Initially, a figurative painter, Cahill recently immersed herself in the development of a personal visual language rooted in historical and conceptual constructs. Meandering lines, color fields, drips, buildings, sharks, and splatters all coalesce to put forth paintings that serve as cryptic notations on her experiences and conversations, real and imagined.

Her painting, “Encounter,” received a “Best of Show” award at CFEVA’s Celebration of Life exhibit for the Perelman Center in 2016. Honorable Mentions were awarded to “One Eyed Fiona” at Goggle Works and “The Right Missing” at the Abington Art Center. Cahill’s paintings have been exhibited regionally and in public spaces.

A graduate of Tyler School of Art Temple University and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Cahill continues to explore art making in her studio at the Crane Old School in Philadelphia. She calls her studio a fortress, her kingdom, and has been known to paint for hours on end well into the next morning.

Statement

My current body of work is the "Darkness Project." The catalyst for these compositions is the various nuances of the word, dark which acts as both a noun and an adjective and pertains to the macabre, humor, night time, color, mood, and much more. Physical and psychological darkness guide these paintings that are based on personal conversations and memories. A one-eyed tortoise named Fiona, sharks, and childhood memories have all had a part in the work. While some of the paintings' subjects are open for disclosure, others have remained a secret during my lifetime.