Nagaya continued to make his fine, intricate creations, which, at times, appear to be anything but paper: fine pen lines, decomposing leaves or laser-cut objects. The 47-year old artist eventually opened his own restaurant where, for fun, he decided to display his kirie. One day a local newspaper came to do a piece on his restaurant and took note of the artwork. They encouraged him to display his work in a gallery. “That was the first time I even considered what I had been doing as art,” recalls Nagaya.
You can follow Akira Nagaya on Facebook, where he posts many of his new works.