Khim Mata Hipol, Balat Sibuyas (Onion Skinned), from the Potraityal series

Khim Mata Hipol
Balat Sibuyas (Onion Skinned), from the Potraityal series, 2021
Digital Photography, Archival Inkjet Print mounted on Sintra Board
10 x 8 inches (framed)

"Balat-Sibuyas," which translates to "Onion-skinned," is a Tagalog idiom describing someone easily hurt or annoyed, reflecting a heightened sensitivity to criticism or adverse remarks.

Portraityal is a series of self-portrait images that explore Filipino idiomatic expressions. Each piece in this series visually interprets a specific phrase, capturing its unique cultural essence. Filipino idiomatic expressions are distinct in how they reflect and playfully poke fun at Filipino culture, often centring around childhood upbringing, street language, and everyday life. While these phrases can humorously describe individuals, they also offer insight into daily experiences. Through Portraityal, playful gestures and expressive self-portraits bring the vibrant meanings of these idioms to life, transforming language into vivid visual storytelling.

Khim Mata Hipol (b. 1999, La Union, Philippines; lives and work in North Vancouver, BC, Canada) is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam people. Through photography, Hipol examines how a sense of identity can be manipulated through commercialization. He explores the intersections of tourism, souvenir objects, and official government symbols, demonstrating how countries establish identity through these representations. Through portraiture, he illustrates how individuals use these objects to express patriotism and nationalism while simultaneously questioning their meanings and invoking ideas of colonialism and the "foreign."

He graduated with a Certificate of Photography (2019) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Photography and a Minor in Art and Text (2023) from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Hipol is a recipient of the Audain Travel Award (2022), Chick Rice Award for Excellence in Photography (2023), an honorable mention of the Seymour Art Gallery New and Emerging Award (2022), and was long listed twice for the Lind Prize (2022, 2023). He has shared his works in group shows at Filter Photo, Chicago, Illinois (2024), Pendulum Gallery (2024), Access Gallery (2024), The Center of Fine Arts Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado (2022), Exposure Photography Festival, Calgary, AB (2022 and 2023), and Cianu Umuk Gallery, La Union, Philippines (2023, 2024). His works have been acquired by Union Christian College (Philippines), Cianu Umuk Gallery (Philippines) and privately collected in Canada, USA, and
Germany.