[4] While pursuing a Ph.D. at Harvard University in preparation for a career in academia or museum work, Pashgian taught an applied art class at a local high school and eventually transitioned into art-making.
[5] The artist has focused primarily on cast resin, "creating intimately scaled, translucent objects that incorporate vibrant colors and precisely finished surfaces.
Her early works mainly consisted of spheres made out of polyester resin, which would be present in her future solo exhibitions.
[3] The show, Helen Pashgian: Working in Light, consists of Untitled 2007-09, where it is green column structures made out of acrylic.
On the outside, the acrylic creates a matte and opaque finish, and on the inside are objects that the artist did not disclose, letting the viewer to interpret themselves.
Although Pashgian has shown her work, steadily, in solo and group shows since the 1960s, she did not achieve the same widespread recognition as her male contemporaries.
[31] She was an artist-in-residence at the California Institute of Technology from 1970–71, and received an individual artists grant from the National Endowment of the Arts in 1986.
[32] Her image is included in the iconic 1972 poster Some Living American Women Artists by Mary Beth Edelson.