Explore the Era

Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.

Helen Pashgian
Artist

Helen Pashgian

Helen Pashgian working in her studio in the 1970s. Photo by Walt Mancini. Courtesy of and © Helen Pashgian

Helen Pashgian (born 1934) was born in Pasadena, California, and completed her undergraduate work at Pomona College before heading to Boston University for her master’s degree. She returned to the Los Angeles area in the 1960s and joined a number of artists in exploring the artistic possibilities of industrial materials, such as plastics and resins. Pashgian focused on cast resin, creating intimately scaled, translucent objects that incorporate vibrant colors and precisely finished surfaces. The perception of these works shifts as the viewer moves around them, and they seem at times to be solid forms and at others to be dissolving into space.

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Untitled, 1969, Helen Pashgian.

    Untitled, 1969, Helen Pashgian. Cast sphere, color polyester resin. 7 in. diam. Norton Simon Museum, Gift of the artist. © Helen Pashgian

Explore the Archive

  • Video: Jack Brogan

    Video: Jack Brogan speaks about working with Los Angeles artists, June 2011

  • Video: Helen Pashgian

    Video: Helen Pashgian speaks about her work, April 2010

  • Helen Pashgian polishing a sculpture

    Helen Pashgian polishing one of her sculptures in the Baxter Art Gallery at the California Institute of Technology in Pasedena for an artists in residence exhibition, 1970. Courtesy of and © Helen Pashgian