Anika Lotter - South Africa - Global Creative Graduate Showcase
Anika Lotter
Designer biography:
I am a contemporary jewellery artist, born and raised on the ancient plains of the Karoo. I am continually inspired by the natural world that surrounds me. Growing up in a farming community in a semi-desert I have always been aware of this deep connection we have to matter and its cycles. As designers, we can cultivate and advocate for a better future through our design choices. During my master’s in visual arts (at Stellenbosch University), I looked at regenerative design theory in the hopes of finding a more holistic approach to creating art jewellery pieces. I choose to create contemporary jewellery pieces from natural textiles and found objects to cultivate a deeper relationship with nature as the making process allows me to experience my surroundings on both a macro and micro physical level.
Collection concept:
I investigated the nature-culture entanglement of storytelling, specifically focusing on my idea of time, place, and heritage. I was interested in my own understanding of the place I call home. I am the seventh generation of Lötter’s inhabiting the piece of farmland we call Weltevreden. Although this sounds like a long time, in context, it is not. In the early 20th century, Karoo fossil hunting influenced scientific thought, in acknowledging that mammals arose from reptiles. The fossils in the Graaff-Reinet district date to 250million years ago. My main areas of focus included; the physical landscape, scientific history through palaeontology, and literature such as The Plains of Camdeboo and Weltevreden family archives. As I investigated the act of storytelling through culture and science, the greater landscape can almost be understood as a form of visual storytelling.
AnikaLotter_brooch_GreenHollows_2022_copper_sterlingsilver_enamel_10x11x1cm
AnikaLotter_bracelet_VertebraeDevelopment_2022_sterlingilver_brass_24x1x3cm
AnikaLotter_earrings_alwynkop_2022_sterlingsilver_ceramics_2x1,5x6cm
AnikaLotter_neckpiece_assemblage_2022_7,5x6x7,5(43)cm
AnikaLotter_neckpiece_turksvy_2022_sterlingsilver_leather_prickleypear_porcelain_resin_16x5x2cm