Art Seen: Dayna Thacker at Barbara Archer

Her show explores the form of our inner selves through architectural collages built from the ephemera of lives - old book pages, letters, and photographs.

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  • In Your Own Words, 2010

In Dayna Thacker’s artist statement for her current solo show at Barbara Archer, she says, “Supposing our psychological/spiritual selves are formed by what we think — the same as our bodies are composed of what we eat — modern-day souls are made not only of responsibilities shouldered, love shared, curiosities and daydreams, but also the immense amount of information we absorb, the stress we cope with, the frustration we repress, and our pervasive multi-tasking habits.” The larger works in her show explores this idea (the form of our inner selves) through architectural collages built from the ephemera of lives - old book pages, letters, and photographs.

Another way to say that: each of Thacker’s buildings are like portrait of a mind. One building, paneled with musical notes and old newspapers, sprouts vast roots into the world while growing leaves within the windows - a loud, ambitious, and extroverted personality. Another building, titled “In Your Own Words,” puffs a solitary stream of smoke from the chimney.