Spheres of influence

From small, mysterious orbs to large disc-shaped light installations, Helen Pashgian's pioneering practice pushes the limits of perception

- HUNTER DROHOJOWSKA-PHILP

artist Helen Pashgian in her studio, a converted piano warehouse in Pasadena, California

Untitled, 2021, cast urethane with artist-made acrylic pedestal, lens diameter 45 inches

No GPS can direct you to the Pasadena studio of Helen Pashgian. “You won't I find it,' insists the artist, renowned for the technologically advanced sculptures she produced in the 1960s. On the phone (she doesn't use a computer or email), she provides detailed instructions involving left turns and a once famed club called The Ice House.

Pashgian opens the faded blue door and ushers me into a generous workspace that she has used since the mid-1970s, with high ceilings and blocked windows to control the lighting on her translucent sculptures. Focused and fresh, with the athletic frame of an ocean swimmer, Pashgian doesn't look or act 87. She leads the way into a room where polished spheres of marigold and emerald epoxy rest atop clear pedestals so that their colours pour downwards to rest in a band at each base. A small square at the centre of each globe appears to tunnel into a single point of light. With close attention, that point appears infinite. Each is perfect.