The CBC Arts logo is looking fly thanks to this B.C. illustrator

Every month, we feature a new take on the CBC Arts logo created by a Canadian artist. Check out our previous logos!

Jungle cats and wolves, birds and horned beasts: they're all running wild in the work of Paige Bowman, a B.C. artist with a colourful and frenetic style.

An illustrator by trade, Bowman studied at Sheridan College and Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and their recent client list includes the Vancouver Mural Festival, Collective Arts Brewing and the Polaris Music Prize. This month's logo design was their latest assignment, and for the project, Bowman had the idea of combining the CBC gem with another Canadian icon: the common loon.

Birds are some of Bowman's favourite critters to draw, it turns out, and they told us more about the design when we reached them by email. 

Name: Paige Bowman

Age: 27

Homebase: The unceded and stolen territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, or so-called "Vancouver."

Let's talk about your design! What inspired the concept?

I was compelled to draw some loons. They're a quintessential Canadian bird to me, and a species that feels associated with winter and the new year.  

Birds are animals that are central to my practice, so it felt like a natural way to connect my work back to something strongly attached to what we associate with Canadian iconography. 

Loons in the Atlantic have been noticeably on the decline in the last 30 years as a result of shoreline development and boating. While their populations aren't decreasing as significantly in other parts of the country, their decline out east could be the start of a nationwide trend, and speaks to the importance of protecting our sensitive watersheds. 

There are more than a few birds in your portfolio, and plenty of other creatures too. What is it about animals? Why do they feature in so much of your work?

I've identified with animals as far back as I can remember — birds and dogs in particular. 

As a child, I never fully understood my own gender in relation to others, and I always existed somewhere between masculine and feminine until puberty forced me into a box of conformity (and all of the discomfort and alienation that came with that). Expressing myself by drawing animals and creatures felt like a way to escape into something liberating, energetic and boundless.

Today, I've come to understand myself better as being non-binary, and continuing to explore my identity through an animal and folklore lens has helped me age into that journey while connecting back with my child self. 

What's new in your world? What are you working on these days?

I am currently working on a piece for an upcoming art show in Vancouver called 100 Amigos. It's curated by Douglas Coupland, Vancouver Mural Festival co-founder Drew Young and Pablo Zamudio (El Kartel). I also have a couple of album art projects on the go for electronic music producer friends in the city, and I'm making custom-painted snowboard boot liners with Intuition, a Vancouver-based sports equipment company.

What's the project you're most proud of?

One project that stands out to me is the largest mural I've completed to date. Produced this past summer on Salt Spring Island, it's a 17 x 9-metre alley mural of seals in a kelp bed. That tiny island community holds a sentimental place in my heart as I was born nearby, on the northern peninsula of Vancouver Island. 

What's your favourite place to see art?

Everywhere — but especially on the streets where it is unbound by the structure of the formal gallery system. 

I love graffiti. I think it is one of the most primal and ancient methods of communication and signifies the city's thriving human heartbeat. I get really heated in discourse about its criminalization. I think making space for it, rather than trying to hide it, is a productive way to develop a thriving urban art scene — unless, of course, it's being written for purely hateful reasons.

Who's the last artist you discovered online?

I follow nearly 3,000 people on Instagram, the overwhelming majority of whom are artists. Today, I stumbled across Kuro Neko, a Ukrainian artist based in Bali who makes beautiful graphic works, neo-traditional oil paintings and intricately detailed tattoos. 

What work of art do you wish you owned?

I am longing to own one of Stevie Shao's or Boy Kong's giant wooden wall hangings. 

Where can we see more from you?

I am on Instagram (@birdfingersss) and my website is www.birdfingers.net. 

This conversation has been edited and condensed.