Kira Maria Shewfelt

Kira Maria Shewfelt (b. 1984, Los Angeles, CA) is a painter whose work takes influence from the literary and visual genres of Magical Realism, Symbolism, and Romanticism. Her paintings engage physical-spiritual unions, a tangible and often athletic existentialism, and metaphor as a vulnerable offering for connection. Recurring subjects include horses, riders, swimmers, and domestic scenes, rendered in vibrant palettes with energetic markmaking and floral motifs. Her 2024 solo exhibition The Yearlings at Make Room, Los Angeles, comprised fourteen canvases, its title linking the young horses that appear throughout her work with her own young family and developing practice.

Shewfelt received her MFA in Drawing and Painting from New York University, her MA in Art History from the University of Southern California, and her BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University. Group exhibitions include Unseen Orchestra, Make Room, Los Angeles (2024); Piano, Piano, Et Al Gallery, San Francisco (2023); The Angels, Baik Art Gallery and The Noblesse Collection, Seoul (2023); LA Dreams 2: Light Touch, CFHILL, Stockholm (2022); Flower Shop, Smoke the Moon, Santa Fe (2022); Telescoping, False Cast Gallery, Santa Monica (2022); A Body is a Home, Hyperspace, Culver City (2022); Hot Tropic (2021) and So Far (2020), La Loma Projects, Eagle Rock, CA; and A Peripheral Reverie, Penske Projects, Montecito, CA (2020). She has shown across the United States, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Miami, and internationally in Rio de Janeiro. Her work has been covered by Artsy. She lives and works in Los Angeles.