Elliptical Spheriod 1969

This Elliptical Spheroid by Helen Pashgian invites us into a world of light, form, and perception. Imagine Pashgian, carefully layering resin to achieve this luminous object. It's not painting exactly, but she shares something of a painter’s sensitivity to color and surface. The cool blue-green color seems to glow from within. I can imagine her trying to capture a certain feeling, coaxing the material to behave just so, shifting the hue, testing, and adjusting. It is a dance between intention and chance, where the material pushes back, and the artist responds. The smooth, translucent surface invites us to contemplate the nature of seeing. Like a lens, the spheroid bends and refracts light, creating internal reflections and refractions. It reminds me of other West Coast artists like Larry Bell, or even the Light and Space movement. Maybe she was thinking of them, too? Ultimately, Pashgian's spheroid reminds us that art is not just about what we see, but how we see. The experience of standing before it becomes a form of embodied expression.