Kira Maria Shewfelt

In Kira Maria Shewfelt’s paintings, intimacy takes center stage, both as subject and as a guiding force in the work itself. For her, closeness extends beyond an embrace or a kiss to include the quiet undoing of expectations—the permission to be seen as we truly are. Through this lens, intimacy, care, and affection become conduits for artistic expression, transforming the personal into experiences that are both profound and sublime. Her process is marked by honesty and restraint. Thin veils of oil paint, layered with delicate washes and translucent marks, generate a surface that feels simultaneously fragile and enduring. This accumulation of gestures creates a depth that is as much emotional as it is visual, balancing immediacy with the patience of extended time. Shewfelt’s imagery ranges from domestic interiors and portraits of friends to expansive natural settings. Echoing Romanticism while remaining rooted in the personal, her works imbue everyday moments with grandeur, insisting on the significance of tenderness, desire, and wonder. Cultural references—such as legendary figures like the matadora Conchita Cintrón—or autobiographical experiences like horseback rides and journeys through butterfly sanctuaries, expand her vocabulary into the universal. Through layered color, mutable bodies, and dreamlike compositions, Shewfelt creates spaces where the intimate becomes cosmic, and where fleeting contact opens onto infinite possibility. ...