From small-scale figures to large-scale installations, Wagner’s sculptural works in wood and bronze particularly draw on the physicality of motion and the body as an instrument of expression – the ways in which it articulates, physically, and the simultaneous monumentality and fragility of its presence. Often truncated and defined by hard edges, the wooden figures emerge in varying degrees of recognizability – the forms of the body melding with and morphing into geometric abstractions. His bronzes, meanwhile, take on an especially fluid appearance, even as they retain the textural character and surface expressivity of wood.

Once again working in tandem with the natural texture and lines of wood, the reliefs from which Wagner’s prints are derived collect traces of color on their gouged and hatched surfaces, as vibrant, raw objects both independently and in conjunction with the prints they produce. The images that emerge from these surfaces at times present single figures tightly cropped and in close-up as semi-abstracted bodies that, through hectic lines and twisting and bending movements, appear ecstatic; as well as dense groupings of figures and yet more abstract visualizations of expressive motion. Working with the medium in more expansive formats, Wagner also produces installations comprising groups of reliefs as freestanding, quasi-architectural elements, simultaneously materializing rupture and continuity across a dynamic, large-scale visual narrative.

Hand-pressing his woodcuts onto thin Japanese paper, Wagner’s hectic lines and gradating applications of color and layering produce varying degrees of visibility and abstraction – from subtle, sparse and translucent, to graphically outlined, sharp and bolded, to intricately layered, densely multi-chromatic diffusions. At times employing the triptych format, or otherwise linking series of prints, Wagner brings focus to elements of time, metamorphosis, and permeability – evoking an interconnectedness that extends beyond the frame and filters through the fibers of the paper. In their surface sheerness, the prints convey a sense of fluidity, as light is permitted to pass through, adding another layer of dynamism to the already ecstatic forms. Functioning as screens in this way, the grid pattern of the wooden frame filters through from the backside, intersecting with the criss-crossing, crosshatching and fragmented figuration of the printed image – a further extension of the surface depth. Wagner’s prints are thus imbued with a three-dimensional presence, necessitating the occupation of space, often floating or standing; they are intended to be traversed around, interacted with and viewed from all sides.