Carla Chahrour Dubai

Nail art has greatly evolved from the solid colors and dotted flowers of the nineties as artists from around the world have emerged with skills rivaling those of contemporary fine artists.

To Hikaru Morishita, a Japanese nail artist based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, nail art is not merely a self-care ritual, but rather, an innovative form of expression that negotiates her daily identity, exhibited through a series of characteristically avant-garde polish jobs.

Inspired by everything around her, her designs range from embellished stiletto nails, neon lacquered abstract color blocks, glittery accented streetwear-inspired flames, to aesthetically pleasing designs inspired by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Working with her own nails and house calls from friends, Morishita’s nail art designs are mostly created using acrylic powder, which is a type of nail extension that consists of a liquid monomer and a powder polymer that form a paste that bonds to the natural nail. The solidified acrylic is then given the desired shape, where it hardens in place to add length, strength and thickness to the nail, according to the artist.

Morishita characterizes acrylic as her preferred medium, as it allows her to “have more fun when sculpting art on nails and provides a larger platform to work on.”

Nail art created by the UAE-based Japanese artist Hikaru Morishita. (Hikaru Morishita)

Despite the rise of extreme nail art within the fashion world, Morishita’s nails draw particular attention due to her implementation of recycled materials from old accessories, real flower petals, and everyday house-hold items, such as shower loofahs and key chains, within her nails to create authentic designs.

Nail art created by the UAE-based Japanese artist Hikaru Morishita. (Hikaru Morishita)

The artist takes pride in her creative touches, saying that “I can encapsulate anything within my nails and find a way to creatively capture it within my artistic designs, I like being flexible with my work and not sticking to the norm, that is why in addition to the materials used, I also like to have irregular-shaped nails,” in an exclusive interview with Arab News Japan.

By adopting a unique style of nail art, Morishita highlights the vastly different possibilities that can be produced on human finger tips, transforming mundane nail plates into portable art canvases.

Nail art created by the UAE-based Japanese artist Hikaru Morishita. (Hikaru Morishita)

“I look at nail art as a form of semi-permanent jewelry, and that is what constantly adds to my infatuation with designing them. The fact that I’m creating something that will not only be a part of me, but it’s also my solid act of daily pursuit of beauty and freedom of expression” Morishita said.

Nail art created by the UAE-based Japanese artist Hikaru Morishita. (Hikaru Morishita)

How she got into nails:

“Ever since I was young, I had a great affinity for creative arts, my favorite past-time was drawing and I even used to hand-draw manga comics and graphics. As I grew older, I started getting my nails done and was always discontent with the result, which is what prompted me to start learning to do them myself. Then, as I began to learn the techniques, I gradually started incorporating more artistic elements into the nails and ever since, it became my form of creative output,” Morishita said.

Morishita’s journey to her creative profession was anything but linear. Born in and raised in Japan, the creative force behind the nails entered the world of art at an early age, where she frequently indulged in drawing and creating her own graphics. 

Despite her affinity for the creative arts, Morishita did not pursue her talent academically and instead, earned a degree in International Business Management from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, commonly referred to as APU, in Beppu, Ōita, Japan. After graduating, she moved to the United Arab Emirates to work at a local trading company. 

The Japanese artist first started doing her own nails after she grew tired of paying for manicure services at professional salons in Japan and in the UAE. 

According to Morishita, the dissatisfaction she experienced after getting manicures, was not due to the incompetence of the service she was being provided with, nor by the skills of the people performing it, but rather, a result of her heightened expectation of what she envisioned her nails would look like. 

On when she first came to Dubai:

It was only two years after moving to the UAE that she realized that the reason behind her dissatisfaction was not directly correlated to the place or person performing her manicure, but rather, the inability of someone else to transfer the image in her head into reality. Consequently, Morishita pledged to stop getting her nails done for her, and said to herself  “this is the time to prove to yourself that you can do better.” 

When I decided to move to Dubai in 2016, it was the first time I was by myself and completely independent. I decided to teach myself how to do my own nails by watching YouTube video tutorials less than two years ago. I bought the equipment and practiced every day, it was constant trial and error,” Morishita said. 

“Also, Since I have a job, I made it a daily routine to wake up at 5:00 AM and try a new nail art technique or design before it was time for me to attend. The need to go to work in the morning gave me motivation to ensure that I completed all my nails. Once I completed them, I would always take pictures and post them on Instagram, which connected me with like-minded people and motivated me to explore my abilities even more,” Morishita elaborated. 

“The taste of Japanese people is more conservative than the taste of people in Dubai, which I think has a more welcoming atmosphere due to its diversity and bubbly attitude for any unique challenge. This atmosphere makes me feel more free to explore my artistic work,” Morishita added.

On if she ever wants to expand her talent into a profession:

“I am currently planning to obtain a nail-artist freelance licence to be able to expand my client list and start performing nail art on more people, which will hopefully draw more attention to my work. But for now, my aim is to expand my online platform on instagram, which can be found on my account “wonder.nailz” and  educate people that these kinds of nails do exist,” Morishita said.

Although  Morishita’s current profession is unrelated to nail art, she does hope to expand her nail-art abilities through becoming a freelancer in order to professionally pursue a career in the field.

Nail art created by the UAE-based Japanese artist Hikaru Morishita. (Hikaru Morishita)

The rising interest in nail art stems from the beauty world’s celebration of individualism, with nails becoming more intricate than ever before due to their ability to serve as a unique form of self-expression.

The influence of YoutTube and Instagram has allowed the industry grow by making the techniques more accessible to those intrested, this growth is proven in a report by Research and Markets, which found that the global Nail Care Market size is expected to reach $13 billion by 2024.

There is no indication of the industry slowing down, and the nail artist, Morishita, with talons in sharp silhouettes, sculptured to precision in bold three-dimensional creations, is anything to go by.