Merrill Wagner (American, b.1935) is an artist known for her geometric wall reliefs made of salvaged steel and linen. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Wagner received a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 1957. In the early 1960s, she experimented with geometric abstraction, before turning her focus to different materials, inspired by the work of Eva Hesse.

By the 1980s, Wagner was applying paint to stone, steel, and slate, focusing on the surface of the material and the geometric patterns of that material, incorporating its unique characteristics and flaws into the work.

Inspired by the negative spaces in found pieces of metal, Wegner evokes natural forms from the patterns that are created, from cooling hot sheets of steel with water to sealing irregularities with paint. Known for her interest in the romanticism of the American landscape, Wagner plays with contrasts in colors and geometric shapes to strike a balance between the representation of man and nature.

In 1976, Wagner became a member of American Abstract Artists, and served as its president from 1982 to 1985. Her work is part of the permanent collections of the Bellevue Arts Museum and the Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA; the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA; Chase Manhattan Bank and Goldman Sachs, New York, NY; and the Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA.