Caleb Wheeler
Shows as Part of TÉKHNĒ | 2026
Caleb Wheeler, The God Problem, 2026; acrylic, concrete, loam, clay
Caleb Wheeler Makes Sacramento Debut
Los Angeles-based assemblage and mixed media artist Caleb Wheeler presents The God Problem as part of the group show, TÉKHNĒ: Process is Technology. The show is on view until June 28, 2026 at the Panama Art Factory, Sacramento, CA.
The immersive ambient installation consists of three mirror-surfaced acrylic and concrete forms, each half-submerged in a mound of raw loam and clay, staged together on the kiln floor and bathed in red light. A perpetual low-tone frequency reverberates through the enclosed brick dome, making the space itself an instrument. The effect is ritualistic, geological, and deeply liminal — three altar-like objects simultaneously erupting from and dissolving into the earth.
Curated by Ember de Boer with support from Sacramento City Arts, TÉKHNĒ takes its name from the ancient Greek root of the word "technology" — meaning "art, skill, or craft" — and positions the act of making as its own form of technology. The show features 6 installations, 3 interactive artworks, live sound, and works across disciplines that collectively examine what it means to create in an era of machine intelligence and digital saturation.
The God Problem proceeds from a deceptively simple premise: that with highly evolved brains, humans channel an amorphous construct called the soul — and imbued with that self-understanding, we endlessly create, reflect upon, and kill the deities we make. The mirrored surfaces of the sculptures reflect both the viewer and the kiln walls, collapsing the distance between the one who makes and the thing made.
The beehive kiln is an ideal setting for this work. Wheeler's practice has always been driven by the tension between the elemental and the fabricated. His assemblages feature concrete, earth, and raw stone that carry the weight of early-civilization aesthetics and primal memory.
"I try to elevate common materials by constructing and cohering them into forms that evoke a scope of time," Wheeler has said. "In doing so, I acknowledge the distant past along with the fact that our present will inevitably become ancient as well.”
TÉKHNĒ marks the Panama Art Factory's first group show in a decade. Wheeler's recent exhibitions include Mapping Time at Mercury 20 in Oakland, By Hand at Blue Line Arts in Roseville, and a 2026 solo show, Sororal Mounds, in Los Angeles.
TÉKHNĒ: Process is Technology is open weekends through June 28, 2026. For appointments and information, visit @panama.art.factory on Instagram.
For more information, to purchase pieces or invite Caleb to exhibit, contact him through his website.