How art is at the heart of this soon-to-be-demolished Hong Kong home
A Hong Kong-based designer and her arts consultant husband reimagine the space by swapping out artworks to create distinct vibes
Although designer Ella Bridgland conceives beautiful interiors for a living, she confesses that she and her husband, Damian Chandler, an arts and culture consultant, never consciously designed their 1,200 sq ft apartment. Instead, she says, their home, which they share with their four-year-old son, five-month-old daughter and cat, has evolved organically over the past five years, and is as much an expression of themselves as it is a testament to their love of art and design.
The couple’s approach to collecting art is refreshingly unpretentious and deeply personal. Many of the pieces have been with them for years, including works Chandler acquired during his time at art school in London, where the students used to swap their artworks with each other.
Bridgland and Chandler buy pieces they feel an emotional connection to rather than following trends or building an encyclopaedic collection. They also like to experiment with the location of pieces, recasting the dynamic of a room and creating a new dialogue through the juxtaposition of different artworks and objects. The couple describe how one of their most recent acquisitions, a piece by Saudi Arabian artist Alia Ahmad, prompted them to rearrange their interior in response to it. As well as reconfiguring artworks on the opposite wall, hanging smaller-format pieces to play with scale, they added a linear directional pendant light to illuminate the art without competing with, or obstructing, it. They also made changes to upholstery.