Born in Sarnia, Ontario, Paula McLean received a Bachelor of Fine Art in Studio Art from Concordia University in 2017 and a Master of Fine Art at the University of Waterloo in 2019. She has exhibited at Patel Brown, Hearth, and the plumb in Toronto, ON; Art Mûr Gallery and Centre des Arts Actuels Skol, Montréal, QC; KWAG in Kitchener, ON; and Quarters Gallery in Los Angeles, USA. A recipient of the Keith and Win Shantz Scholarship, she was a studio assistant for Ireland-based painter Ciarán Murphy in the summer of 2018. Her thesis show, To Catch a Glimpse of Things, was exhibited at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery in May 2019.