Artist Statement

I choose materials that best communicate a concept or experience that is personal to me. When working in clay, I use hand building as well as wheel throwing techniques when constructing my pieces. I might choose the seductive plasticity of porcelain with its vitreous translucency or the earthy grounded weight of groged stoneware. The materials take form in a visual language in my sculptures and installations where I delve into themes of displacement, resilience, and the intricate equilibrium of the natural world, its beauty, vulnerability and its interconnectivity. 

HELEN DUNCAN
 Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland & Haverhill, MA, USA                             

Education

MA in Art Education – Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
Postgraduate Studies in Ceramics – University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA, USA
BA in Ceramics – Limerick College of Art and Design, Limerick, Ireland

Selected Exhibitions

2025

  • Ceramic Group Exhibit, Cahir Arts, Contemporary Art Gallery, Co Tipperary Ireland

  • Ceramic Ireland Members Exhibition, Botanical Garden Dublin, Ireland 

  • Sculpture Now, 25’ Installation, Sculpture at the Mount, Lenox, MA

  • Twenty-First ArtsWorcester Biennial, Worcester Art Museum, MA

  • Longford Lights festival: Art Installation, Ireland

  • ELEMENTAL: Abstractions for Unsettled Times, Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, Gloucester, MA

2024

Outdoor Sculptural Invitational, Cape Cod Museum of Art / NESA

Earthworks: Tradition, Influence, Innovation, The Umbrella Art Center, Lincoln, MA

  • 15th Flying Horse Outdoor Sculpture, Pingree Sculpture Park, Hamilton, MA

2023

  • Craft: A Force in Contemporary Art, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, New York, NY

  • CONTINUUM: Cape Ann Sculpture Today, Manship Gallery, Gloucester, MA

  • Clay Works 2023, Ceramics Ireland Annual, Dublin Castle, Ireland

  • Art on Campus, Outdoor Installation, Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA

  • Art in the Park, 10th Exhibition, Worcester, MA

  • Site-Specific Outdoor Installation, Cogswell Art Center, Haverhill, MA – Funded by MCC

  • Tandem, Cape Cod Museum of Art, Brewster, MA

  • Kinetic, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Yarmouth, MA

2022

  • Inspired Views, Montserrat College of Art Gallery, Salem, MA

2021–22

  • Outdoor Site-Specific Installation, Cogswell Art Center, Haverhill, MA – Funded by MCC

2021

  • State of Clay, 11th Biennial Exhibition, Lexington, MA

2020

  • What Remains, Solo Exhibition, Switchboard Gallery, Haverhill, MA

  • Small Works, Switchboard Gallery, Haverhill, MA

  • Begin, Installation on Displacement, Essex Art Center, Lawrence, MA

  • Ceramic Installation, Maudsley Sculpture Park, Newbury, MA

2019

  • Endure, Ceramic Installation, Maudsley Sculpture Park, Newbury, MA

  • Small Works, Switchboard Gallery, Haverhill, MA

2018

  • Inspired Views, Group Invitational, Montserrat College of Art Gallery, Salem, MA

2015

  • Graduate Exhibition, Boston University Dorsoduro, Venice, Italy

2003-1994

  • Transitions, Residency Exhibition, Gallery Dean Crowe, Athlone, Ireland

  • Invitational Group Exhibition, Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA

  • Transition, Installation, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

  • Group Invitational, Ceramic Sculpture, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

Grants & Awards

2025 – Arts Worcester Biennial, Awarded the Ruth Susan Westheimer Award for Fine Craft                                   2022 – Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, Disperse (Site-Specific Installation)
2021 – Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, Begin Again (Site-Specific Installation)
2020 – Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, What Remains (Exhibition)
2004 – Irish Arts Council, Artist in the Community
 1995 – Irish Arts Council, Artist in the Community
 1994 – Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, Transitions (Exhibition)