Kelsey Merreck Wagner (b. 1990) is an elephant-obsessed printmaker/painter/textile artist and activist. She received her B.A. (Studio Arts; focus: printmaking) at Western Michigan University; her M.A. (Cultural Studies & Sustainability; focus: community-engaged arts) at Appalachian State University, and is currently a Ph.D. student at Michigan State University (Anthropology; focus: environmental art and advocacy). She has exhibited work internationally in Cambodia and Italy, as well as shows across the United States including Chicago, North Carolina, and Michigan.

Wagner's creative process addresses human-environment relationships, especially our connections to animals, the impact of climate change, and the influx of trash in local ecosystems.

Much of her work about elephants, fruit bats, dolphins, and birds are made from large monoprints, which she paints, embroiders and draws on before stuffing, sewing and weaving them together into paper sculptures; this work focuses on human-animal interactions and the need for radical methodologies in conservation.

Her most recent work with textiles are weavings made of a yarn warp, with plastic bags and recycled bits of string acting as the weft. The process of weaving abandoned mediums into a narrative of human/product/environment relations points to the complex web of ecology we live in, destroy, and seek to protect.
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She is available for commissions, murals, installations, exhibit opportunities, workshops and lectures. Please use the contact form to get in touch.