Anja Jagsch

I always had a strong interest in nature, organic and healthy living, and in making: my own bread, needlework, clothing, cosmetics, just loving to try things out. In early 2000 I went on a trip to Australia - and to cut a long story short - met my Australian partner. After going back to Germany and selling and storing away my belongings I moved here permanently later the same year. Arriving with not much more than a backpack. My partner was on an extended long service leave at the time and we lived in a caravan. I loved the basic life, baking my bread over the camp fire, catching fish and eating oysters straight off the rocks.

Since then we lived in our house in Adelaide for a while but 6 years ago we went back travelling and supporting ourselves with jobs along the way. I make jewellery in the caravan, set up a table outside, in the shade and out of the wind. Or in a homestead on a remote cattle station with the cattle mooing in the distance.

I love Australian plants and the varied landscapes. They give me the inspiration for my art. My passion for life's basics also reflect in my work. It is playful yet simple and evokes the calmness that is present in nature. The process I predominantly use is called 'lost wax cast' where the actual plant material or wax (like in the photos above) get replace by silver in a burnout process.

'HotchKarat' came into life when I found out recently that the word 'carat' originates from the carob bean. Its weight was seen as consistently 0.2g. I love this connection as a lot of my work incorporates seeds I find. It is humble and earthy - rather than precious. 'hotch' I added in need of a short word and - again unexpectedly found a connection. My hometown in Germany is nestled between the 'Hotzenwald' and the Rhine river. And the word 'hotch' comes from the same origin as 'hotzen' meaning up and down. The people living in the hills had to come down into the valley to trade. Today's shopping is just a bit easier...