Dayna Thacker spent much of her youth in Tennessee, and received a BFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She moved to Atlanta in 2006. Working in collage, assemblage and installation, she uses found materials to investigate the systems that people create for themselves, such as philosophy, religion, science, geometry, poetry, and mythology, in order to make sense of the world and their place in it. Thacker was awarded a studio space at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center for 2008-2011; she is a finalist for the Forward Arts Foundation 2010 Emerging Artist Award; and her work was recently featured in the 2009 Southern issue of New American Paintings. She will have a solo show at the Barbara Archer Gallery in May 2010.