Chigi Acrylic Nails

This project reinterprets the patterns, motifs, and flooring of the Chigi Palace into intimate, hand-painted acrylic nail designs. Using micro brushes and magnification tools, we meticulously crafted five sets of acrylic fingernails that highlight intricate details from the palace. This process of miniaturization transforms not only the scale but also the perception of these elements. As Susan Stewart (1993) notes in On Longing, the miniature represents “a world of interiority and enclosure,” inviting intimate engagement, imaginative projection, and a thoughtful, slowed attention. By translating the grand motifs of the Chigi Palace onto fingernail-sized canvases, we create body-worn, portable archives that prompt a re-evaluation of material detail, proportion, and ornamentation, while also opening new avenues for historical interpretation.