About

David Chum

Some people know exactly what feels off.

Others only know they are tired of being overlooked, misread, or asked to work too hard to be understood.

David Sovanmony Chum is an Asian American artist, designer, stylist, and licensed permanent cosmetics specialist whose work sits at the intersection of beauty, perception, design, and transformation.

David laughing, in a cream shirt with a sash tied at the waist and wide black trousers, in front of a pink and orange painting

His practice spans fine art, apparel design and brand development, styling, permanent cosmetics, interiors, and Vedic timing. The fields are different, but the underlying approach remains consistent: observe closely, understand how something is being perceived, identify the structure producing that perception, and determine what can change the read.

David, a close portrait, his head tilted, a green stone earring, bookshelves behind him

Different mediums. One eye. One standard.

01 — ORIGIN

Born in a refugee camp at the end of the Cambodian Genocide, David grew up with transformation as part of his earliest history. His father taught him to turn talent into service, a principle that continues to inform his work.

Archival photographs of David's family from the refugee camp

A grainy black-and-white family photograph — a man in a light shirt in the foreground, a boy behind him resting his chin in both hands

02 — BEAUTY / PRESENTATION

His relationship with beauty and personal presentation began early. Drawing became a language for observation, emotion, and self-expression. As a teenager, he taught himself clothing construction, textile manipulation, and costume design, using fashion and drag to explore identity, transformation, and self-possession.

David's second-grade drawing — a zebra and her foal under a yellow sun on cracked black paper, its label reading Art Department, Fall River Public Schools, David Chum, Tansey, grade 2, Mrs. DiCorpo

An early drag photograph of David — a short blonde wig, dark lips, a black choker and black feathered dress

03 — ART

At Lesley University, where he earned his BFA, David developed a fine-art practice centered on transformation and the aftermath of trauma. His large-scale portraits brought together oil painting, sound, handmade costume and jewelry, found objects, and sculpture, connecting physical form with psychological experience. His work is held in the collections of Samuel Adams, Jinx Nolan, and John Lester.

David's thesis exhibition at Lesley — large-scale portraits, white sculpted swans, and a costumed figure in red, installed in a black and white gallery

A detail — a gold crown and feathers, strands of pearls, broken plaster hands and a white gown on a black disc

04 — SELAHDOR

In 2009, David founded the clothing label Selahdor. What began as a self-taught pursuit in pattern making and garment construction developed into a brand featured by DailyCandy, Boston Magazine, and US Weekly, with representation in showrooms in Boston and New York. David later appeared on Project Runway Season 9 and became the inaugural recipient of The Emerging Designer Fund in 2010.

A Selahdor dress — a fitted teal dress with a deep scoop neck and a thin yellow belt

His work became known for modern tailoring, a strong visual identity, and refinement without excess.

The Selahdor finale — models in white, yellow and grey walking the runway in single file

Backstage at a Selahdor show — a last adjustment to a pleated white dress

Jewelry was also part of the Selahdor practice. David designed his first jewelry collection during this period, beginning an exploration of adornment that would later intersect with his study of Vedic astrology and the development of Jyotish remedy jewelry.

A gold necklace on white marble — an oval red stone, a long green stone and a pink pearl, each in a gold bezel hung from gold bars

05 — LUXURY / STYLING

David later moved into styling and more than a decade in luxury retail, developing a close understanding of how visual decisions shape desire, trust, value, and personal presentation.

David adjusting the sleeve of an open-mesh top on a model in a black crop top and a pale skirt, a studio light behind her

David's hands fitting the sleeve of a cream linen suit jacket, a rail of cream, camel and black clothes behind

06 — DCPC

That experience now informs DCPC, David’s multidisciplinary aesthetic practice. Permanent cosmetics, wardrobe, and image work all begin with observation, assessment, and design — considering the person, the proportions, the context, and the way the whole composition is being perceived.

David at work on a client's brows in the DCPC studio, under a lotus mural

07 — VELEA

His work with Velea extends this way of seeing into time. Drawing from his study of Vedic astrology, Velea is a system for understanding where a person is within the movement of time, providing orientation around what is happening now, what is changing, and where attention may be most usefully directed. For David, this also became a way to think about productivity and neurodivergence, including his own experience of moving through the world differently—not as problems to be overcome, but as part of the conditions through which a person moves, works, creates, and makes decisions.

A Velea prompt over sunlit water on sand: "What can I cultivate that will become more valuable tomorrow?"

A Velea birth chart — the houses named in plain words (How You're Met, Home & Roots, Your Name, The Partner, The Depths), the planets placed in them, the signs around

Velea on a phone, at an angle: THE MARKS MEAN over the month's days in green, gold and red, and "Select a life area to update the Calendar and Tide" with Mine, Retrograde and Money

08 — THE QUESTION

The face, the body, the environment, and time may appear to be separate subjects. For David, they are different surfaces through which perception can be examined.

Clients and collaborators come to David when something needs to be understood, refined, rebuilt, or seen differently. The work may involve a face, a wardrobe, a space, or a moment in time.

The medium changes.

The question remains:

What is actually there, and how can it be read more accurately?

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, David works across his studio practice and independent projects.