A highly conscious unconscious: the well-travelled towers of Helen Dunkerley

Sinking her hands into the mud of the island of st Thomas, Australian ceramist Helen Dunkerley discovered clay so rich and red it looked like the earth was on fire. St Thomas is part of the US territory in the Caribbean (one of glorious Virgin Islands) and Dunkerley's studio there looks out over an intense blaze of azure sea and lush tropical foliage. Each year, like some avian species borne aloft by a powerful urge for discovery, she begins a fresh cycle of migration that sees her travelling between a part time teaching job in Newcastle, Australia; an artist's residency and teaching in upstate New York; and a part time gallery assistant job in the Caribbean. It seems that each place leaves a fresh imprint on her work.