SPECULATIVE DESIGN
Shadowerboxer (2025)
The female body serves as a public vessel for social and political projections and ideologies. From reproductive politics to lookism, cruelty has been insisted upon us as a result of projections from the patriarchy. We have come from a succession of fantasies thrusted upon us, yet we still don on this false sense of autonomy. This faux sovereignty of the self has stemmed from social progression and revolution—believing we have come far enough from where we started. Yet, these invisible forces of power have continued to constrain us to the point of obedience. What if we turn to compulsive reduction to remedy the weight that comes with our physical being?
Shadowboxer presents a method of “shadowboxing” to ward off these invisible forces. Identifiable features are peeled from the face, shedding the layer of desire. The physical appearance has been modified and reduced, reclaiming autonomy and defending the self from further projections.
Between the Light and All (2025)
in collaboration with Amara BhatiaBetween the Light and All calls various pertinent dynamics into question: the concatenation of modern day “stan” culture, the sanctity of religion and the innate desire for a higher power, the fate of the soul and reincarnation, the West’s take on Eastern mysticism, the parallels between fans and religious devotees.
Constructing a new ideology drawn from the Hindu belief of the purpose of mortal lives, purusharthas, we catechize what extent devotion can take. Representing the four purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha, forms of obfuscation and manifestations of the all-consuming are created through speculative avatars. These avatars take on the likeness of the four Beatles, further querying the representation of a higher power’s physical form and the synchronicity of religion and fandoms, drawing from the ‘60s frenzy coined “Beatlemania.” Between the Light and All challenges prescribed ideas of devotion and reimagines the confines of religion.
UNCANNY ATOMS / THE PHYSICAL WEIGHT (2024)
UNCANNY ATOMS / THE PHYSICAL WEIGHT is a two-part print-based design project with over 120 pages that explores the physical and psychological implications of a surveillance state—a highly likely future.
UNCANNY ATOMS: THE ANATOMICAL EFFECTS OF SURVEILLANCE is a textbook set to be published in 2225. It follows the anatomical evolution of the human body under hyper-surveillance, starting at the atomic level. Page-consuming large-scale images accompany the unnerving text. The purposeful deviation from typical textbook formatting and uncanny image manipulation emphasizes the disfiguration society has undergone, leaving only a semblance of what is.
THE PHYSICAL WEIGHT is a response to hyper-surveillance, using found images and songs to encourage resistance. It aims to break the chain of surveillance—a routine that starts with our societal surveillance infrastructure and trickles down to the individual attempting to don a similar role in an act of avoidance and desperation for security. Images range in degree of distortion and are paired with pulled lyrics to evoke a longing for what was and what could be.
CHANTA CHEA
Based in Southern California (Los Angeles and San Diego), I am a graphic designer with a B.A. in Speculative Design and a minor in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego. I have studied various fields of design including: architecture, urban planning, graphic design, illustration, drawing, and print production—accumulating a total of seven years of visual art studies.
I am passionate about making designs community-driven, personal, and physical! I value forging and bridging communities through art, utilizing the communicative and referential weight of design. I approach each design with purpose and intent, encouraging both personal and technical application. I am always looking to grow and keep design fun!
Outside of designing, I love watching movies, journaling, sketching, collecting physical media and perfume, stickering everything, taking pictures of friends, and being surrounded by cats.