One of only two such forms the artist created, Ovoid dates from Light & Space pioneer Helen Pashgian’s earliest experiments with newly available industrial materials, notably plastics, epoxy resins, and polyester resins. During a residency at Caltech, she found herself drawn to their effective response to sanding and other types of modification. Unlike years in the past, when fabricating something as rudimentary as a small, clear and translucent object from a traditional material like glass was virtually impossible, a new era flourishing from the technological spoils of World War victory opened the floodgates for artistic possibilities. Pashgian marveled at the realization that she could shape these materials into her vision, to play with color, but most importantly, to engage with, and access, light. “These materials were very seductive, particularly at the beginning, and almost anything they did was exquisite for the moment,” she says. “You could be seduced into letting it do what you wanted it to do. You couldn’t allow yourself to do that; you had to be very disciplined and stick to what you wanted to achieve. Otherwise, you could just be all over the place.” The discipline that Pashgian describes references the painstaking quality-control she undertook. Sanding, finishing, and color mixing (with eye droppers, no less) were just a few of the processes she enlisted to ensure a pristine and immaculate surface, as is evident in this work. “I have to be diligent,” Pashgian admits. “There are about sixty steps involved and none of them are written down, it’s all in my head. I have to be doing everything perfectly, not cutting any corners, or else something will go wrong, one thing will throw off the entire piece. It’s aesthetically challenging and it’s physically difficult, but it’s very, very exciting.”
