Washington Winter Show 2023

28 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2023 WASHINGTON WINTER SHOW ALDOUS BERTRAM A ldous Bertram is an artist, art historian and interior designer who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. His designs and interiors have been featured in House Beautiful and other top design publications. Aldous grew up in England and received his PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge University, specializing in the historical influence of China on English garden design and architecture. Aldous, please tell us about yourself and your work to-date. I am a British artist and designer living in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. My studies have focused on the influence of China on English garden design and architecture, a subject which I recently adapted into an illustrated survey of chinoiserie, titled Dragons & Pagodas. In the past I have dabbled in miniatures and murals, and for the past seven years I have worked with the very talented Amanda Lindroth in the Bahamas and Palm Beach. I am excited to be launching my own interior design studio alongside my artwork and product collaborations. You published your first book — “Dragons and Pagodas” — in 2021. What was your inspiration and vision for the book? I had a very strong vision for the book from the outset, which was to pair a very lighthearted history of chinoiserie with fabulous imagery from my favorite interiors, laced together with my own illustrations. I did not want the book to be about people, but instead to focus exclusively on architecture and decoration, regardless of the owner. Every image was chosen through the prism of my personal taste, and therefore leans towards the historical. Your newest form of art delves into the world of curated collages through digital media. What inspired this new art medium and how does it influence your work today? I have always admired collages, for the great skill required in striking the perfect composition from so many different and overlapping parts. The advantage of approaching it digitally is that I can constantly move pieces around, without a gust of wind ruining