COMPLEXCON · LOS ANGELES
Chie’s Apartment
01 — THE IDEA
The Inspiration
CHIE started as a digital character and story I created: an Asian American girl chasing a dream — becoming the first woman to play in the NBA — in a world that keeps telling her no. For ComplexCon, I asked a simple question: what if you didn't just read her story, but walked into it?
02 — THE BUILD
A lived-in space, not a backdrop.
I recreated Chie's childhood apartment as a full walkthrough environment. At its center stood a 10-foot sculpture of my Air Jordan 1, brought into physical form from the original digital artwork. The room extended into my other works as well as limited-edition merch I designed from her graphics, so people could carry a piece of her world home with them. Visitors weren't looking at art on a wall. They were standing inside it, wearing it.
03 — WHAT IT MEANT
The apartment carried real weight — it dealt honestly with racism and the barriers Chie has to push through to be seen. But it wasn't heavy for the sake of it. People connected with the character, the craftsmanship, and the culture all at once. Over and over that day, I heard the same thing…
it was the most meaningful, most connected booth they'd experienced at ComplexCon.
04 — WHY IT MATTERS
Emotional weight and commercial appeal aren't opposites.
The work that moves people is the work that sells — and the work that sells best is the work people actually feel. That's what I bring into a brand collaboration: an idea nobody else would have tried, built well enough that it becomes someone's favorite memory of the day.