BFA | Craft and Material Studies
Through interdisciplinary art practice and material-based technical skills and research, students in the Craft and Material Studies (CaMS) program learn to bring together contemporary fine art and craft skills, using cutting-edge technologies and critical thought to imagine and create objects and environments with imagination, technical skill, and an understanding and appreciation of both traditional and contemporary materials and methods. Firmly established in a top-ranked comprehensive Research I university, well-known for its engineering and science disciplines, Craft and Material studies students have the opportunity to connect their work to a larger socio-technological discourse on campus and beyond and are encouraged to develop interdisciplinary ties to other areas of study within and outside of the College of Liberal Arts.
The Skilled Material Fine Artist
The goal of the Craft and Material Studies (CaMS) program is not only to develop expertise in at least one of the disciplines of metals, ceramics, textiles and sculpture, but also to develop students’ ability to use the language of the object as means for expressing universal and individual ideas within a material forum. The program provides an interdisciplinary laboratory for the exploration and creation of combinations of techniques, and encourages the exchange of ideas and concepts across disciplines. Students acquire the flexibility to use their skills in a contemporary fine-art, conceptual and/or interdisciplinary forum, to be creative with their acquired skills, and to be able to adapt to the challenges of rapidly changing job requirements in the world of creative professions. Graduates of the CaMS program may go on to continue their studies in MFA programs and artists residencies, nationally or internationally, or work as artists, educators, fabric or clothing designers, museum exhibition designers, gallerists, jewelry designers, tinkerers, material consultants and producers (in culture, entertainment and advertising industries). Students in this area are encouraged to practice in all four area of the program and combine their skills in each one to create objects portraying an expanded appreciation and understanding of a world based in materials.
Areas of Study
Ceramics
Ceramics is an area of study that covers physics, chemistry, history, design and fabrication, and is rooted in a comprehensive ability to handle a specific material in various stages. Ceramics students are encouraged to work to expand their ideas and push beyond any perceived boundaries and limitations of the discipline. In their research and art practice, students interested in ceramics learn the fundamentals of all techniques including throwing on the wheel, hand-building, mold-making and slip-casting, firing in oxidation and reduction (atmospheric) kilns. Students do extensive research into making clay bodies, including earthenware, stoneware, porcelain and casting slips, and glaze calculation. Students are encouraged to make all the surface applications required in a contemporary ceramics fine art practice, including all types of glazes, lusters, decals, screen printing.WCAG 2.2 Video Alternative Description
Jewelry
Students interested in Small Metals and Jewelry learn the fundamental processes in this discipline. Emphasis is placed on mastering foundational metalworking techniques and skills such as sawing, soldering, forming, casting, and stone setting using non-ferrous metals. Working with small metals and jewelry is rewarding. Its traditional, hands-on nature of Small Metals and Jewelry allows students to develop deep focus, dexterity, and discipline and feel the satisfaction of making something tangible and long-lasting with their own two hands.
The field of jewelry and small metals today encompasses a wide variety of metalworking and non-metals processes for making jewelry, sculpture, vessels, mixed-media works, installations and more. An extraordinary variety of materials, from powerfully symbolic to delicate and ephemeral, have historically been used in small metals and jewelry and this mixed media exploration is encouraged.
Sculpture
The sculpture program is a place for students to explore, define, and develop personal artistic expression beyond the 2-dimensional surface while thinking critically within the context of the world of contemporary sculpture. Students in sculpture are exposed to the ideas and work of past sculptors and as well as contemporary works. Coursework emphasizes concept development along with learning and refining basic technical skills. Technical topics ranging from brazing to soft sculpture can be explored in this area. The student is encouraged to thoughtfully incorporate any materials available to them, from metal, to wood, or to textiles, into their sculpture practice. An interdisciplinary approach towards including interactive art, performance, and video works is highly encouraged.
Textiles
The textile courses cover primarily non-loom constructed textile and fiber manipulation techniques such a macrame, card-weaving, crocheting, beading, knitting, and embroidery. Emphasis is on artistic, three-dimensional design in fiber using historical textile structures as the basis for contemporary interpretations. Studio time is heavily dedicated to physically building textile works and sculptures and evaluating the work through group critiques.
State of the Art Facilities
Students in the Craft and Material Studies area have access to:
Ceramics: a fully equipped ceramics studio with 10 Brent wheels, three alpine gas kilns, a soda kiln, five electric kilns, two test kilns, a moldmaking and slipcasting room, two clay mixers (one Bluebird, one Soldner) and a state of the art glaze-decal printer. Students are also provided with a small screen-printing set up in the ceramics studio to allow them to make and burn their own silk-screens.
Jewelry and Small Metals: Purdue’s jewelry/metals studio is equipped for the basic processes of soldering, casting, enameling, etching, forging, raising, stone-setting, rubber mold-making, resins, patinas, and electroforming.
Sculpture: The sculpture studio is equipped with drill presses, band saws, belt sanders, sheet metal cutters, sheet metal benders, a water cooled metal band saw, brazing torch stations, a wire-feed mig welder, a photo area for documentation of 3D work.
In addition, all students in the CaMS area have access to two fully equipped dedicated computer laboratories, a flexible reconfigurable multi-purpose space for larger-scale artistic experiments, a dedicated photography studio set up to catalogue their work, a woodworking shop, metal shop equipment, brazing and welding tools, sandblasters, as well as 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC routing equipment.