Blushing Edges and Quiet Wildness in Kira Maria Shewfelt’s Painted Embraces

A kiss on canvas can look more like a struggle than a swoon—at least, that’s what Kira Maria Shewfelt discovered when she first painted moments of passion. To soften the intensity, she reimagined these scenes, letting lips barely meet and cheeks glow with warmth, transforming tension into tenderness. Her debut solo show, “The Yearlings,” at Make Room in Los Angeles, weaves together intimate kitchens, blooming groves, and mythic horses, blurring the line between the epic and the everyday. Each painting explores the transformative power of touch—whether between lovers, a mother and child, or rider and horse. Shewfelt’s path from literature to painting is evident in her layered approach: light washes, energetic patterns, and symbolic motifs hint at both connection and distance. Even in her sunlit worlds, she welcomes the quiet conflicts that come with love and home. In Shewfelt’s hands, small gestures—like a brushstroke or a kiss—become wishes for beauty and healing, blooming quietly amid the wild. #ContemporaryArt #LosAngelesArt #KiraMariaShewfelt #Culture