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Many immigrants come to Los Angeles chasing a dream. Kieran Wright found his dream, in a way, by accident.
The New Zealander moved to the city about eight years ago with the modest goal of experiencing as much LA as possible.
“I wanted to connect with the city like a local, but I had a lot of catching up to do,” Wright says. “I started to paint a picture of Los Angeles that was different from how I imagined it, and it turned out in the best way possible.”
These explorations took Wright on road trips to places both famous and unusual. He was fascinated by diners, which featured frequently in the American movies and TV shows he watched before moving to Los Angeles. One such diner, Ray’s Restaurant in Santa Monica, brought together his love of the city, its architecture, and American culture, and inspired him to try his hand at a hobby: building miniature replicas of LA buildings. They are beautiful, meticulously recreated.
“As I was having breakfast, I realized this was a very Googie-style restaurant. It was so beautiful inside and out,” Wright says. “It seemed like the perfect fit for my first miniature.”
Pandemic transformation
That was in February 2020. A few weeks later, the city went into pandemic lockdown and Wright, who worked for an airline, found himself without a job. He decided now was the perfect time to create a smaller version of Lay’s, something he’d always had in the back of his mind.
“I needed to get a job, and now we’re in the middle of a pandemic and no one’s hiring me,” he said. “Maybe I could create art. Maybe I could be an artist. And that’s what happened.”
In June, a small replica of Ray was completed.
Kieran Wright with his first miniature creation, “Rae’s Restaurant”.
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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He posted the photo to Instagram, and within months, Wright was getting commissions, creating work for buildings he admired, like Al & B’s Mexican Food in Boyle Heights, which my colleague Caitlin Hernandez wrote about in this lovely piece.
Soon, he sold his first piece, a miniature Tiki Tibar, for $600.
A mini version of the Tiki Bar.
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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Imposter syndrome
Slowly but surely, Wright began to make a living as an artist, though it took him a while to call himself an artist.
“It took a long time to determine a price for the miniatures, given that they are priceless works of art that require a lot of time, skill and talent to create,” Wright said.
That moment came with a miniature Troubadour that he priced at $3,000.
“I thought, no one is going to buy this, it’s too outlandish and too expensive,” he recalled. The item sold within 30 minutes.
The pieces were commissioned separately by two buyers: Slash and Ringo Starr of Guns N’ Roses.
Miniature troubadour.
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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Gaining celebrity fans and making a living
Wright said one of the highlights of his career was a purchase notification he received on Twitter from film director Guillermo del Toro, who would eventually add several more pieces to his collection, including a mini replica of the Formosa Cafe and the Jim Henson Company.
After delivering the model to del Toro’s home, Wright asked him to send photos of the final setup once he’d decided where to place it.
“Sure enough, a few days later, he sent me a photo of the miniature surrounded by all of his house stuff,” Wright said. “He has all kinds of interesting curiosities and collectibles, and the artwork fits perfectly in there.”
Wright’s latest creation, Langer’s Deli, now takes him about three weeks to complete instead of the months it used to take him, and he says the piece is about the size of two shoeboxes stacked on top of each other.
And like all of Wright’s work, this one didn’t last long.
“The Langers will be shipped to Florida next week. [to] “We had people who used to live here, they loved Langer’s and they wanted to keep a little bit of the L.A. feel in Florida,” Wright said.
Miniature Langer.
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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Kieran Wright
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Small LA
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