Prior to metal fabrication, Erica studied film and photography at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She moved to Boston in 1992 in search of a career that could continue developing her desire to create. Exposure to Boston's historic architecture and befriending local talented craftsmen inspired a new intrigue for learning the high craft of a building trade, and in 1994 began an apprenticeship at a custom metal shop in the South End. She continued to work as a professional metal craftsman for seven years and in 2001 she decided to open her own studio in Boston, and founded Magma Metalworks. The business has continued to grow and occupies a 3000 s.f. workshop on the north shore of Boston, and employs several assistants. Erica is currently working on developing in-house design projects, primarily a series of custom lighting pieces that explore mechanical movements for varying mood of light. At home, she's working with her husband restoring a small early nineteen hundreds wooden sailboat in their garage, along with a bit of gardening and sailing.
After witnessing an iron pour, Laurie discovered a passion for metalwork. She studied at Massachusetts College of Art with a major in Sculpture, graduating in 2006 with Departmental Honors. She focused her studies on metalwork through courses such as foundry, welding, machining, blacksmithing, and often worked as a teaching assistant for such courses. Additionally, she and fellow classmates formed a group, the Iron Guild, and for seven years have been collaborating to create innovative performances involving molten iron. She also attained certification in stick welding (all positions) in 2005. Working for Magma Metalworks full-time, she manages to find time to make her own artwork, be part of the Iron Guild, teach workshops, and knit.
www.lauriecarman.com |
www.ironguild.net
Kevin graduated from UMass Dartmouth with a degree in fine art and a focus in sculpture. Working at Magma keeps him in touch with sculpture and has also allowed him to explore new techniques in his art -- with skills learned at Magma, he hopes to bring even more of his ideas to fruition. When not working at Magma, he spends most of his time in his music studio, creating new sounds and inventing new musical intruments.
On-call assistant - electrical wizard and master problem solver are specialties. His background is in vintage/tube electronics repair and reproduction, woodenboat restoration, and musician. www.francine.info
Quality control, HR, and napping specialist. And of course, guard dog.