Layne Jackson was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in an architecturally significant house, on a hill nicknamed 'Rollercoaster'.

She makes art with focus on layers of memory, prompted and culled from photographs of common scenes and history. The images are altered and edited in various media, painting and drawing until the story is told.

Privately taught as a child, formal art education included design school, three years working in france, and art and art history degree from University of Texas at Austin.

Since 1997, she has resided in Chicago where the studio is located in a 19th century house in the Ukrainian village of Chicago.

Jackson created and organized the East Village Arts Walk from 2002-2006 with over 60 artists participating each year. She has taught at the Latin School of Chicago and in Chicago Public Schools leading mural projects with over 600 children, and currently teaches at the afterschool art program for grade school students at Lasalle Language Academy, as well as teaching painting and studio practice at Marwen.

Her work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions including the Chicago Cultural Center, Illinois Institute of Art, Koehline Museum, MexiCarte Museum, Daughters of the Republic of Texas museum, NOVA Art Fair, Music Garage, Merchandise Mart, Judith Racht Gallery, Barrington Area Arts Council. Recent shows include 50 Alderman/50 Artists, a collaborative art project organized by Johalla Projects, Taste of the Poet, at the Irish American Heritage Center, and a solo show, 'Burden of Memory', at the Union League of Chicago in December of 2011.

Her public art projects include the Bloomingdale Mural Project, Chicago Avenue Mural Project, Paris 25 Nightclub, and over 60 fiberglass animals for Cows on Parade and private clients. Her work has been included in publications such as A Day in the Life in Cyberspace, Women’s Business Source (cover), SIGNS, Journal of Women in Culture and Society, and the upcoming Clandestino Cooking, a collaboration of art and cooking. She was an artist-in-residence at Ox-Bow, and represented the USA at the 23rd International Artists Symposium in Kriva Palanka, Macedonia in 2009.

Rainer Maria Rilke
"I am circling around God, around the ancient tower, and I have been circling for a thousand years, and I still don't know if I am a falcon, or a storm, or a great song."