Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Helen Pashgian

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.pashgi12
Creators:
Pashgian, Helen, 1934-
Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter
Dates:
2012 July 11
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
83 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Helen Pashgian conducted 2012 July 11, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art, at Pashgian's studio, in Pasadena, California.
Scope and Contents
Pashgian speaks of her parents and their backgrounds; her father's businesses; her grandparents; the influence of great grandmother; her brother; attending grade and high school; attending Pomona College; swimming and athletics; spending time at the beach; the influence of light on water; art classes; learning to look at art; attending Pomona; teaching; living in New York and Boston; working at an advertising firm as a secretary; attending graduate school; working for the Fogg Museum; quitting teaching and moving back to California; experimenting with glazes; California light; La Cienega; taking her work to galleries to try to get a show; Rex Evans; Felix Landau; being a woman artist; meeting Mia Farrow; experimenting with resin; hemispheres; support of parents; Caltech; Nicholas Tschoegl; Jet Propulsion Lab; Great Sphere; stolen art; Jack Brogan; working in resin; Jack Brogan; James Turrell and growing up in California; Balboa Island summer camp; meeting Judy Chicago; being a woman artist; Laguna Beach; Crystal Cove; 'finish fetish"; color field painters; California artists showing in New York; Jill Kornblee Gallery; spheres; Phenomenal exhibition; Baroque period; show at UC Irvine; corporate art collections; plastics technology; working with companies and engineers; epoxy company in Visalia; plastic work; Works Gallery; the early '90s in Southern California; hiatus; working with a fabricator; Pomona College board; L.A. Master Chorale; father's health and growing old; Ace Gallery; new work. Pashgian also recalls Seymour Slive, Vincent Scully, HelenGretchen Van de Kamp, Christopher Ward, Larry Gagosian, DeWain Valentine, Richard Diebenkorn, Roger Kuntz, Peter Alexander, Dave Elder, Bob Bassler, Richard Feynman, Larry Bell, Frank Gehry, Robert Irwin, Mary Corse, Archie Turrell, Miriam Schapiro, Elizabeth Elgin, Brooke Alexander, Wayne Thiebaud, Roger Kuntz, Helen Frankenthaler, Ellsworth Kelly, Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Donald Judd, Melinda Wortz, Robert Morris, Richard Serra, Dan Flavin, Leo Castelli, Jill Kornblee, Phyllis Plous, Melinda Terbell, Stella Polaris Gallery, Mark Moore, Lance Willis, Kettleman Hills, Michael Govan, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Helen Pashgian (1934- ) is a sculptor in Pasadena, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is a writer and art historian in Los Angeles, California.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This interview is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 11 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Sculptors -- California Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women sculptors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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