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Cyshimi’s first beauty memory is the unusually long little fingernail of their Chinese grandfather – a practice amongst Chinese men that harks back to the country’s dynastic days. “It’s funny to see where I’m now”, says Cyshimi. What seemed strange to them 20 years ago now echoes throughout their work: maximalist nail sculptures that reach out from the fingers in unexpected forms.

Fingernails have a wealthy history of power and resistance, and for the 24-year-old interdisciplinary artist they’re a logo of identity and empowerment – an expression of resistance against hegemonic beauty standards. Also they are each a canvas and carrier of their work exploring themes of ancestry, identity, beauty and the body.

“[Nails] can easily be connected to an idea of a subversive beauty, but greater than that, it’s connected with body and performance,” they are saying. “Nails expose how our body can expand, having them is like having a superbody… That’s why I name them as performative sculptures: sculptures which might be a part of an alive and expressive body, and so the nails perform with it.”

Growing up in São Paulo, Cyshimi was the primary of their Taiwanese Chinese family to be born in Brazil. The experience was often alienating and their art became a technique to work through their traumas. “Growing up as a non-white child it makes you notice you’re different from a really young age,” they are saying. “This really made me see fashion and wonder as a form of escape.” For Cyshimi, who’s non-binary, nails are also a technique to have fun the “plurality and variety” of bodies. “Where oftentimes it’s imagined that there’s one possible way of life, there are literally infinite others.”

This sense of joyful multifacetedness radiates from their work. Take ‘Training Wear’, which sees nail sculpture grow into a complete costume. Or ‘Treasure Knots’, which is an element collage, part nail art, part ceramics. After which there’s ‘Jungle Walker’, a biomorphic sculpture that transforms the hands of the wearer, before morphing from 3D work to 2D image, then into crypto-art via NFT. It’s work that exists across materials, IRL and online, within the memory of the past and the technology of tomorrow.

Below, we chat to Cyshimi about vanity, Chinese beauty heroes, and their predictions for the long run.

How would you describe your job?

Cyshimi: I make nail sculptures that reinterpret narratives, remodel objects and create a world of their very own. A whole lot of the nails that I create are a results of a transdisciplinary path including sculpture, digital art, installation and performance. But beyond defying aesthetics, my work revolves around ancestry, identity, beauty and body. For me, nails are ‘Performative Sculptures’, they usually are not only a static object, but a sculpture that shapes the performativity of bodies.

Why do you do it?

Cyshimi: Once I take into consideration nails, it may possibly easily be connected to an idea of a subversive beauty, but greater than that it’s connected with body and performance. Nails expose how our body can expand; having them is like having a superbody, it’s a robust symbol of power. That’s why I call them performative sculptures; sculptures which might be a part of an alive and expressive body and so, the nails perform with it. I mould the acrylic endlessly to create a sculpture and it moulds me back, it hits and rebounds, making you alter your life with reference to things and other people around you. 

Additionally they represent a clash of norms, while questioning a hegemonic beauty standard and instigating everyone around them. A whole lot of my work seeks to disclose that historically, nails are a robust symbol of resistance, empowerment and identity. They defy normative concepts of beauty and ways of life, generating a robust sense of community and collectivity. Having them can be a way of celebrating plurality and variety of bodies, where oftentimes it’s imagined one possible way of life, when there are literally infinite others.

How did you get into it?

Cyshimi: I’ve all the time had a robust relationship with vanity since I used to be a teen. Since that point, I began to grow my natural nails really, really long. I discovered it incredible how our body could grow something naturally so unbelievable and the way I felt with them – more powerful and unique. Then, throughout all of the crafts that I began to learn, working in the style and art industry, I jumped into nail sculpting, a passion that reunited many concepts and mediums I even have run into before.

What’s been your profession highlight up to now?

Cyshimi: Having my work exhibited within the Super Rare gallery in Latest York, my feature on Instagram and having my nails in a Comme des Garçons campaign.

Are you able to talk us through a few of your favourite looks and the way you created them?

Cyshimi: ‘Jungle Walker’ – I made this very inspired by natural textures and it’s one in all my favourite color palettes. Then I took an image with a forest image on a TV screen behind the nails, which then became one in all my signature ways of photographing. This can be my first piece minted as NFT, so I’m really pleased with it.

‘Training Wear’ – A garment with my first nail sets stamped right into a dress, which was utilized in a performance. I feel my work goes beyond the nail sculpture itself but in addition tries to bring it to other mediums.

‘Treasure Knots’ made out of ceramics sculpted within the format of Chinese knots, with the postcard ‘Fingernails of a High-Class Chinamen’ behind on a TV screen.

Which fictional character do you most relate to and why?

Cyshimi: I get profoundly touched after I see Vanilla Sky; how David Aames (Tom Cruise) totally loses his sense of self when his face is disfigured, the best way it changes his life and relationships around him.

Who’s your beauty icon?

Cyshimi: Gong Li within the Curse of the Golden Flower, when she makes a reference to the empress Cixi along with her nail guards, her whole look is completely immaculate and it was the primary time I saw nail guards in motion.

When do you are feeling most beautiful?

Cyshimi: Each time I feel like losing myself from my current self after which stepping up and reworking. The glow-up moment.

Are you optimistic concerning the future?

Cyshimi: As a Brazilian person from the worldwide south living in political chaos, beyond fascinated about long-term optimism I live someday at a time.

What’s the long run of beauty?

Cyshimi: The longer term is whatever we construct now. For me, beauty is trans, race inclusive, limitless and can even be within the metaverse. There are also a couple of creators transforming their beauty art into NFTs and I think that is just going to extend.