Radhika Chitalia’s Late Father’s Passport Transforms into a Memory Capsule

For Copenhagen-based illustrator and designer Radhika Chitalia, an interest in memories, psychology, and emotions drives a practice centered around connections. From imbuing product design with a bit of humanity to using natural pigments and motifs inspired by Indian folk traditions, she’s drawn to the dynamics of community and relationships. One particular bond stands out in a recent personal project.

“After my father passed away, his expired passport remained tucked away for years,” the artist says. “Rather than throwing it away, I began painting every page with gouache—working over visas, immigration stamps, and empty pages as a way to not just cope with the grief but fill up the pages that he never got to fill.”

a passport spread illustrated with an image of insects

Chitalia recalls that her father “loved to travel and had planned to spend his retirement exploring the world with my mother, but passed away before he got the chance.” Still, he filled a lot of pages in his passport. And as adhered paper visas and inked stamps increasingly become a thing of the past, the document serves as both a personal time capsule and an artifact of the way we once traveled.

The artist saw potential in its worn spreads and bureaucratic insertions for another story, one that could be layered vibrantly on top of the existing document to celebrate her father’s life and adventures in a kind of posthumous father-daughter tribute. “What started spontaneously became a way of exploring grief, memory, and the journeys that never happened,” she says. “The passport became more than a surface—it was an object already carrying his history, and the paintings slowly became a way of filling its pages with new stories.”

Chitalia has also been painting on other found documents that belonged to her father, and she often shares her progress on Instagram. Find more of the artist’s work on Behance. You might also enjoy Pep Carrio’s thousands of datebook drawings.

a passport spread illustrated with an image of a fig plant and fruit

a passport spread illustrated with an image of a family and a woman half-submerged in a sea of red

a passport spread illustrated with an image of two people seated around a small table and a redheaded woman's head

a passport spread illustrated with an image of playing card suits with faces and a couple standing in front of a visa sticker

a passport spread illustrated with an image of a box of Crayola crayons and a flowering plant

a passport spread illustrated with an image of a tropical plant and a man's face

a passport spread illustrated with an image of a pink and purple moneky and flowers

a passport spread illustrated with an image of a sun with a moustachioed face and a tree

a passport spread illustrated with an image of the top of a man's face and a young girl holding a balloon shaped like a wide-eyed animal head

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