In It’s All in My Head, Rachelle presents a body of ceramic work that resists conformity in both form and meaning. After 23 years of military service where uniformity, repetition, and precision were not just expected but required Rachelle intentionally creates work that refuses to look uniform. While pieces may share a common theme, no two are meant to look the same. Irregularity becomes a choice, and difference becomes a form of truth.

 The title of the exhibition comes directly from Rachelle’s lived experience. Upon returning from Afghanistan, she was repeatedly told that her struggles were “all in her head,” a phrase often used to dismiss or minimize mental health. The work confronts that dismissal directly. Rachelle refers to her PTSD and anxiety disorder as her “souvenir package” from the military as a tongue-in-cheek phrase that carries both dark humor and pointed critique.

Rachelle’s ceramic process reflects this philosophy. Working through both wheel throwing and handbuilding, she embraces variation, disruption, and imperfection. Her brain sculptures incorporate visual references to the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, where broken objects are repaired with gold, emphasizing fractures rather than concealing them. In these works, cracks and seams are highlighted rather than erased.

 Through this approach, Rachelle challenges assumptions about damage, usefulness, and beauty. The brain, often labeled as broken or deficient is reimagined as resilient, functional, and worthy of care. It’s All in My Head asks viewers to reconsider what it means to be “fixed” and offers a powerful reminder that even what carries trauma can remain whole, valuable, and beautiful in the world.

 This exhibition is the culmination of Rachelle’s two-year residency as the Workhouse Military in the Arts Initiative (WMAI) Artist in Residence.