Think this logo's gorgeous? You wouldn't be moose-taken
Sara Khan painted this CBC gem, and the design has a personal meaning to the Vancouver-based artist
Every month, we feature a new take on the CBC Arts logo created by a Canadian artist. Check out our previous logos!
How does Sara Khan like to describe what she does as an artist? "I question the seemingly ordinary moments of our day-to-day routines," Khan writes, and she does that by highlighting remarkable things that might be hidden in plain sight.
True to form, her logo design for August contains layer upon layer of beautiful imagery to discover. Painted with watercolour and gouache, the logo tells a personal story too — one that alludes to Khan's upbringing in Lahore, Pakistan, and her present-day life in Vancouver.
That autobiographical bent is another common theme in Khan's work. Look no further than her last solo exhibition, Roshni Key Teh Mein (In The Fold of Light), which referenced beloved people and landscapes and stories from her home. (It appeared last fall at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, B.C.) And though Khan's life has been busier than usual lately (read on to learn why), she still found time to tell us the story behind her logo design. Here's what she had to say over email.
Name: Sara Khan
Age: 37
Homebase: Vancouver, located on the unceded, ancestral and traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
Let's talk about your logo! Is that … a moose staring out of the CBC gem?
It sure is!
What's the concept driving the design?
It is about my gradual "moose-ification" over the past eight years that I've been here, ha ha!
I never imagined living away from my native city, and I find it fascinating how it has a hold on certain aspects of my identity. I find it just as intriguing how Vancouver now has a hold on me and how it influences and changes me every day.
What's the project you're most proud of?
That's a hard one. I would say Suraj Kinare, my first solo show in Canada at the Surrey Art Gallery in 2019.
What's your favourite place to see art?
So many places, Instagram being one of them. One of my favourite galleries is The National Portrait Gallery in London, although it's been years since I Iast visited it.
To be honest, I get more excited by the art I often find in children's books, or in the animated films I love to watch, or small craft stores, or second-hand bookstores and thrift shops. There would be an annual puppet festival where I grew up. I thought that was full to the brim with art and I loved it.
What are you working on these days?
I am juggling raising a three-month-old baby and developing a body of work for my next solo show in September.
See more from Sara Khan on her website and Instagram (@mindforking).
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
