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When I set out to write an article about the New York-based, Instagram-famous nail artist Mei Kawajiri, I had never gotten a professional manicure before. Or, really, any manicure at all.
My mom — a neat freak if you’ve ever met one — was opposed to manicures on principle, for the fact that nail polish stains. So, growing up, I would go to a friend’s house and secretly have her paint my nails, only to use polish remover to scrub away the evidence.
Then in high school, I played softball, and, well, I don’t know if you’ve ever jammed your fingers into a dusty leather glove and snared a line drive, but let’s just say manicures and softball do not exactly mix.
Still, nails have always been an object of fascination for me, whether in the form of Sigourney Weaver’s purply-pink rattlesnake venom-spiked talons in the movie “Holes” or Cynthia Erivo’s forest-green ombré acrylics in “Wicked.”
Last year, I stumbled upon the Instagram page of Ms. Kawajiri, who has created elaborate custom nail looks for stars such as Cardi B, Ariana Grande and Bad Bunny. There were nails with hand-drawn portraits of anime heroines. Six-inch acrylic sets embedded with jewels and lace. Tips affixed with 3-D miniatures of asparagus, French fries, hair bows — even dirty socks.
These weren’t just manicures. They were works of art.
So when Dan Saltzstein, the deputy editor on the Projects and Collaborations team at The Times, approached me in January to ask if I had any ideas for an upcoming Art of Craft series about specialists whose work rises to the level of art, I had the perfect candidate.