Helen Pashgian: Light Invisible features the first large-scale sculptural installation by a pioneer of the light and space movement. Before working in sculpture, Pashgian created oil paintings that used glazes to trap and reflect light. The artist’s early work was representative of her long-standing interest in the luminous properties of artistic materials and is highly influenced by the paintings of Dutch 17th-century painter Johannes Vermeer. After taking up sculpture in the late 1960s, Pashgian became one of a group of artists in the Los Angeles to experiment with new materials such as fiberglass, resin, plastic, and coated glass. For her installation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pashgian has created 12 molded-acrylic columns that will fill an entire gallery. As viewers of the work walk past, around, and between these columnar forms, the sculpture will create an immersive viewing experience that invites meditations on the nature of material and, more importantly, of light.

*image (left)
Helen Pashgian,
Untitled (detail of work in process in the artist’s studio), 2012–13,
© Helen Pashgian, photo by Josh Morton