Bio

Wesley Kramer is a printmaker and educator from Belvidere, Illinois. He earned a BFA in Printmaking from Northern Illinois University before working as a Press Assistant at Evil Prints in St. Louis, where he gained professional experience in collaborative print production. He later received an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Oklahoma, expanding his practice through large-scale, interactive works. Wesley currently teaches drawing, foundations, and printmaking courses at several colleges and universities in the Oklahoma City area. His work explores bold color, graphic imagery, and the expressive possibilities of traditional and contemporary printmaking.

Artist Statement

My work explores an imagined world that mirrors our own, confronting challenges shaped by environmental change. Through playful narratives, I follow characters who navigate an evolving ecosystem, striving to protect their communities even when they make imperfect choices.

Humor, whimsy, and bold, fantastical creatures invite viewers into this fictional universe while making complex issues approachable. As the stories unfold, they reveal how individual actions ripple through communities and ecosystems, encouraging reflection on our relationship with the environment.

Printmaking is the foundation of my practice, but I expand its possibilities through interactive prints and immersive installations. In my interactive works, viewers activate the narrative by pulling tabs, spinning components, and manipulating moving elements, transforming them from observers into participants.

This participatory approach extends into large-scale installations where prints, sculptural forms, and storytelling merge into immersive environments. By blurring the boundaries between printmaking, sculpture, and narrative, I invite audiences to experience my imagined world while recognizing its connections to their own.