alexa wheeler

Born in Minnesota and raised between the United States and Germany, I draw upon family histories, cultural traditions, and personal experience to explore themes of inheritance, identity, belonging, and resilience. My recent work considers the metaphor of the vessel, both physical and symbolic, as a framework for examining the expectations placed upon women across generations. Preservation jars, utensils, textiles, divination cards, household objects, and fragmented photographs become repositories of memory, carrying traces of care, grief, nourishment, obligation, and hope. Through layered surfaces and accumulative processes, my work functions as a form of visual archaeology, revealing histories that are simultaneously personal and collective.

I received a BFA in Printmaking with Highest Honors from Pratt Institute, completed the Tamarind Master Printer Program, and earned an MFA in Electronic Art with Highest Distinction from the University of New Mexico. I have collaborated with numerous print studios, including Pyramid Atlantic Press, Flatbed Press, Jean-Yves Noble Serigraphy, and PaperPress in Germany. Working under my maiden name, Alexa Burns, I am credited as a printer on Richard Serra’s edition Leo in the National Gallery of Art’s records for Leo Castelli’s 90th Birthday Portfolio. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in museums, galleries, and artist-run spaces, including the Albuquerque Museum, Harwood Art Center, and contemporary art venues throughout the United States.

In addition to my studio practice, I am Principal Lecturer III of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico–Valencia, where I teach printmaking, photography, electronic art, and interdisciplinary studio practices. My teaching philosophy emphasizes experimentation, accessibility, and the belief that creative practice can serve as a tool for connection, empathy, and transformation.

I am the recipient of a 2025 Fulcrum Fund award supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for toastlab (Together, Observe, Acknowledge, Share, Transform), a mobile makerspace and community-based art initiative focused on storytelling, collective memory, and creative exchange. Through both my artistic and educational work, I seek to create spaces where individual experiences can be witnessed, shared, and woven into larger conversations about care, history, and what we choose to carry forward.