Rachel Elise Thomas (b. 1988) is a Detroit-born, lens-adjacent multidisciplinary artist and designer. Rachel has recently been accepted into the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she will begin pursuing her MFA in Photography this fall.

Being a collage artist and documentary photographer has given Rachel the versatility to tell stories in different ways. She gathers inspiration from her environment, home, her family and their artifacts, Black Americana advertising, old photographs, decorative paper, textiles, and printed words; assembling imagery and materials that invite the viewer to deeply examine the messages being presented. These messages usually revolve around identity, ancestry, and spirituality—with some topics having tongue-in-cheek nuances, this is done to further understand and delve into issues that affect our society—such as: overconsumption, vanity, materialism, colorism, sexism, and racism.

My work details the intimate and introspective moments in my life over the past two years.

The approach to my work is both spontaneous and thought out. I may plan on using/incorporating certain things but the outcome is unpredictable.