Kim Dacres Signals a connection to Africa and migration through hair by creating three dimensional busts out of found tires and rubber. In a nod to the historical significance of African braiding patterns and techniques, Dacres’s sculptures are manipulated and coiffed with braids. She emphasizes the facial expressions and hair styles of each piece to capture some of their charisma and celebrate their Blackness while also considering who is entitled to space and deserving of honorifics and monuments. She is attracted to discarded rubber because of the color, smell, and the material’s symbolism which is imbued with a wealth of experience paired with wear, tear, and sudden disregard. Through the process of layering the materials, the rubber's journeying experience transforms into muscle, bone, skin, hair, and personal style. Her work considers the texture of experiences unique to Black People and women and the fragments of their experiences that shape a world view.
Dacres has participated in several group shows internationally and within the United States. Her most recent solo exhibition, Black Moves First, an installation of eight sculptures honoring her maternal family lineage, opened at Gavlak Gallery in Palm Beach in December 2021. Her work has also appeared at: Bradley Ertaskiran Gallery, Quebec, Canada; Galleria Anna Marra, Rome, Italy; Lustwarande, Tilburg, Netherlands; Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem, New York; A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, New York; Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles, California and Palm Beach, Florida; REGULARNORMAL, New York, New York; Parallax Art Center, Portland, Oregon; UTA Artist Space Gallery, Beverly Hills, California; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.
Dacres was born in the Bronx to Jamaican immigrants. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Art Studio and Political Science with a minor in Africana Studies from Williams College and her Master’s degree in Education focusing on Teaching English as a Second Language K-12 from Lehman College at the City University of New York. Kim spent ten years teaching and leading in New York City elementary and middle schools. Dacres lives in Harlem and practices her studio work in the Bronx.