Rachel is a Chicago based ceramic artist who is working towards her MFA in ceramics at The Art Institute of Chicago. She previously received a BFA from The University of Michigan with an academic focus in sustainability which has led her to deeply value relationships rooted in reciprocity, often something we have to look to plants to learn. Rachel thinks about function as a way to create an honest connection between the object and the user. The material history of ceramics has a persisting existence with the universal feeling of the domestic, and she finds fascination with the overlooked objects that our bodies interact with daily. Rachel uses the processes of coil and slab building with clay to create sculptural art objects that grow from the ground up. Learning from the material and allowing the clay and glazes to have a voice in my work is important to me. Aesthetically, Rachel allows the patterns and forms in the natural world to influence her pieces as much as possible.