NEW YORK – For at least a few days most weeks, Mei Kawajiri makes hotel calls to celebrities such as rapper Cardi B, supermodel Heidi Klum and singer Ariana Grande to whip up viral creations, often posted online for her more than 343,000 Instagram followers.

Her medium might be even more impressive: extravagant nail art – minutely detailed 3D pastries, hand-drawn portraits of anime heroines and 15cm acrylics embedded with jewels and bits of lace.

When she is not collaborating with celebrities, Kawajiri works out of her combined home and office in the Lower East Side, her nail equipment tucked in a corner across from her toddler’s playpen, toys strewn across foam and carpeted mats.

It has been a long journey for Kawajiri. After a childhood spent in Kyoto, Japan, opened her own studio in Harajuku, a stylish neighbourhood in Tokyo, at 23.

In 2012, she came to New York on the advice of a client’s American friend, who said her work deserved to be on magazine covers.

She arrived in New York alone, speaking no English. She would walk the almost 6.5km stretch from the Lower East Side to the Plaza Hotel in Fifth Avenue with a portfolio of her designs.

“I would ask people, ‘Do you think I should move to New York?’” said Kawajiri, who declined to give her age, but whose short stature, blunt bangs, hot pink Miu Miu hair clips and bunny slippers epitomise the kawaii aesthetic, which emphasises bright colours and cuteness.

Encouraged by the response (“I quickly learnt what ‘awesome’ and ‘amazing’ meant”), she obtained an artist visa at a time when it was tough to convince people that doing nails should be considered art, she said.

After working for a few months at a SoHo nail salon, she decided to strike out on her own to do more creative work. She initially charged US$100 for two-hour sessions, working out of a suitcase and ...