Featured Cover Artist: Kira Kamamalu
“Have you ever had the feeling that you were doing exactly what you were meant to do?”
Hilo-born 31-year-old Kira Kamamalu is going into her eighth year as a professional artist.
She says that painting is the thing she feels she was born to do.
Through the facial expressions of her subjects, Kira explores themes of personal power, beauty, thoughtfulness, compassion, and love.
“As a figure painter, all the messages I try to convey must come through by the emotions on my subjects and the nature of the supporting elements such as colors, background, and texture. I explore a lot of traditional Hawaiian actions and activities because they are still a part of Hawaiian modern life; I enjoy bridging the old and the new Hawai‘i.”
For Kira, paintings begin with inspiration and then inspire new direction as they take shape on her canvas.
“The beginning of every painting is a thoughtful one. I never start without knowing which direction I’m going, even though that is almost guaranteed to change once the painting starts speaking back.”
Kira describes her craft as exciting, noting that she often rises before the sun because her passion won’t allow her to stay in bed a moment too long. And—strangely perhaps—a larger force that has carried her and disciplined her since the beginning of her art career: frustration.
“Frustration that I wasn’t as good as I knew I could be, frustration over knowing the piece could be better,” forced Kira to strive harder to paint “a powerful and moving work of art.”
Kira currently has many projects underway: a textile clothing line with her art deco images to be released this winter; creating a line for Kona Rock & Mineral; a Hawaiian Comic Book that blends her art with Hawaiian legends; and a restoration project for the new St. Michael’s Church, restoring the old statues, creating the mosaics—including a tapa-patterned mosaic trim on the interior with ‘ili‘ili stones—and painting the church’s ceiling.
Kira’s artistic abilities are attributed to her family and her classical training.
“My entire family is extremely creative, and bouncing ideas off of them is hugely beneficial for my thought process…I had a lot of art instruction in Europe, and when I came home I felt like I was bringing [that entire] knowledge home to adapt it to my land.”
Kona artist Vicki Penny-Rohner was Kira’s first mentor in painting. Presently, Kira creates under the masterful guidance of Ed Kayton. Kira also studies Harley Brown, Richard Schmid, Sargent, Matisse, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and many more, noting that her art studio is filled with books on art and artists.
That art studio, Kira says, is her personal heaven.
“All artists who have a studio away from home understand the value of having a space specifically dedicated to their work. There are no distractions, and the only thing to do is to get to work,” she says.
Open by appointment, Kira’s studio is located in the southernmost room on the lanai at the Kona Hotel in Hōlualoa. Kira’s dog is her “studio assistant,” hanging around the hotel and “monitoring” her work. ❖
Contact artist Kira Kamamalu: kamamalu@me.com, 808.938.5054, kira-kamamalu-art.com
