Basic Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Borden Wheeler |
| Also known as | Daniel Wheeler; wheelerMADE |
| Profession | Artist, sculptor, fabricator |
| Practice focus | Sculpture, installations, bespoke commissions, funerary/memorial objects |
| Active since | Mid-1980s (Los Angeles) |
| Reported age | 61 (in 2022), suggesting early 1960s birth era |
| Residence (reported) | Los Angeles, California |
| Spouse | Maggie Wheeler (married 1990) |
| Children | Two daughters: Juno (elder), Gemma (younger) |
| Notable for | Multidisciplinary making, material fluency, craftsmanship at varied scales |
Origins and Trajectory
Every maker’s story begins with tools and questions. For Daniel Borden Wheeler, those questions have been asked in metal, wood, stone, and surface—the vocabulary of craft honed across decades of studio practice. By the mid-1980s, he had rooted himself in Los Angeles, building a life in the workshop as the city surged through successive waves of cultural growth. The result is a career that has no interest in barricades between “fine art” and “fabrication.” He lives in the productive in-between: the place where form solves a problem and, at its best, also stirs the heart.
Over time, Wheeler’s body of work has expanded from stand-alone sculptural objects to installations and commissions, including memorial and funerary pieces. That latter thread—objects made to honor, remember, and hold presence—says much about his practice. These are works that must carry weight without shouting, balance intimacy with permanence, and remain legible across years. It’s a sculptor’s version of writing a letter that never stops being read.
The Studio Practice: Materials, Methods, Motifs
Wheeler’s process carries the cadence of a seasoned fabricator and the curiosity of a studio artist. He works across scales, from hand-held pieces to room-sized interventions, and mixes methods that range from traditional joinery and stonework to contemporary metal fabrication and surface finishing. If there’s a guiding motif, it is the primacy of touch—edges softened to the hand, surfaces that invite light, and structures that resolve cleanly in space.
Three recurring themes stand out:
- Material honesty: Woods look like wood, metals hold their grain, patinas are earned rather than faked.
- Elegant problem-solving: Each piece treats constraints—weight, balance, installation venues—not as obstacles but as design companions.
- Memory architecture: Memorial forms and commemorative objects coax emotion into shape, demonstrating his sensitivity to personal and collective remembrance.
The studio’s name, wheelerMADE, is a manifesto in two words. It centers making as both method and message, underlining his belief that craft is not a subordinate to concept but its equal.
A Creative Partnership: Marriage to Maggie Wheeler
In 1990, Wheeler married actress Maggie Wheeler, known to audiences around the world for her unforgettable comedic turn on Friends and for a long career across film, television, voice work, and community arts. Their partnership bridges adjacent creative terrains—performance and sculpture—meeting at the place where discipline, repetition, and service to an audience (or a client, or a community) are held in equal esteem.
The way their paths complement each other is telling. His work often focuses on objects that mark meaning over time; hers is about moments brought to life in voice and presence. Together they sketch a portrait of two artists who understand the rigor behind “effortless” results and the quiet hours required to make something sing.
Family Portrait: Daughters and Home Life
The couple has two daughters, Juno and Gemma. Public accounts consistently note Juno as the elder and Gemma as the younger, a pair of names that appear in interviews and public conversations about family life. Though the daughters have largely remained outside the spotlight, they figure as touchstones in stories that celebrate the everyday arc of a creative household: school events, set visits, and the kind of living-room debriefs that knit a family together. In this respect, Wheeler’s family biography reads less like celebrity ephemera and more like the durable grain in one of his timber pieces—private, sturdy, and essential to the structure.
Selected Projects and Themes
While a single, exhaustive catalog of exhibitions and commissions is rarely published in the mainstream press, the public-facing footprint of wheelerMADE captures the breadth of Wheeler’s undertakings. Projects range from stand-alone sculptures to bespoke installations in homes and public-facing spaces. Particularly notable is his work in memorial and funerary objects, where craftsmanship meets profound responsibility. Here, precision is not just aesthetic; it’s ethical. The piece must hold space for grief without theatrics, for love without sentimentality.
Other commissions frequently demonstrate what might be called “architectural empathy”: custom elements that resolve the awkward corner, balance a room’s visual weight, or create a tactile focal point. In each case, the through-line is problem-solving elevated to poetics.
Public Presence and Recent Notes
Wheeler’s public presence is steady but measured. Rather than the churn of constant self-promotion, the trail is anchored by his studio identity, periodic magazine profiles, and mentions that arise as part of his spouse’s extensive entertainment career. In recent years, public conversations have highlighted family snapshots—memories from sets, nods to the girls by name—and reflections on creative life in Los Angeles. It’s a portrait of a maker who lets the work carry most of the speech.
Timeline Overview
| Year/Period | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Mid-1980s | Establishes long-term practice in Los Angeles; begins building a hybrid path as artist and fabricator. |
| 1990 | Marries actress Maggie Wheeler; the couple later becomes parents to two daughters, Juno and Gemma. |
| 1990s–2000s | Expands studio work from sculpture to installations and bespoke commissions; refines material techniques. |
| 2010s | Increasing focus on commemorative and funerary objects; ongoing commissioned projects and private installations. |
| Early 2020s | Public profiles spotlight his philosophy of making and the emotional stakes of memorial work. |
| 2024–2025 | Continued mentions in entertainment and lifestyle conversations tied to family moments and creative life. |
Numbers at a Glance
- 2 core identities: artist and fabricator, integrated rather than separated.
- 3 recurring themes: material honesty, problem-solving elegance, memory architecture.
- 4+ decades of active making, beginning in the 1980s and continuing through the 2020s.
- 2 daughters—Juno (elder) and Gemma (younger)—frequently noted in family reflections.
FAQ
Who is Daniel Borden Wheeler?
He is a Los Angeles–based artist, sculptor, and fabricator known for multidisciplinary work under the studio identity wheelerMADE.
What kind of art does he make?
His practice spans sculptural objects, installations, bespoke commissions, and memorial/funerary pieces that balance precision and emotional resonance.
When did he marry Maggie Wheeler?
They married in 1990 and have been publicly referenced as a long-standing creative partnership.
Do they have children?
Yes, they have two daughters: Juno (the elder) and Gemma (the younger).
Where is he based?
He has long been associated with Los Angeles, where he works and maintains his studio practice.
What is wheelerMADE?
It’s the studio identity under which he designs and fabricates his artworks and commissions.
Is his exact birthdate public?
No; a reported age of 61 in 2022 suggests an early 1960s birth era, but an exact date has not been widely publicized.
Does he have a publicly verified net worth?
No reliable public net-worth figure is available; estimates that circulate online are not authoritative.
