Eroplanong Papel (Paper Airplane)
Eroplanong Papel (Paper Airplane)
By Khim Mata Hipol
This detail of Eroplanong Papel (Paper Airplane) pays homage to childhood dreams and imagination, symbolizing the migrant journey and the resilience of those seeking new horizons. This transit billboard project transforms simple sheets of photosensitive paper into powerful narratives of exploration and adaptation. Each fold in these photograms reveals light and shadow, abstracting forms and raising questions about their essence. This camera-less process strips photography to its purest form, uncovering unseen beauty in the ordinary and ephemeral.
These origami forms represent the vehicles of human movement. Within the context of our transit system, they symbolize the journeys people undertake daily. As we travel, we enter spaces of thought and recollection, finding moments of introspection amid movement. This project connects the physical act of transit with the emotion and intellectual journeys we all experience.
Filipino-born Khim Hipol is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based on the unceded territories of the Squamish, TsleilWaututh, and Musqueam people. Through photography, Hipol examines how a sense of identity can be manipulated through commercialization. He explorers the intersections of tourism, souvenir objects and official government symbols, demonstrating how countries establish identity through these representations.
This artwork is presented in collaboration with InTransit BC and City of Richmond. It is also featured in the 2025 Capture Photography Festival.
