Born in Qazvin, Iran, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1922-2019) moved to New York City in 1944 to pursue her studies at Parsons School of Design, where she developed a strong preoccupation with abstraction. Upon her return to Iran in the late 1950s, a visit to the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz proved transformative. The shrine–whose interior surfaces are covered in countless fragments of mirrored glass–introduced the artist to the dazzling visual language of Persian mirror work and the intricate geometric systems underpinning Islamic architectural ornament. Works such as Untitled (2008) and Untitled (2008) continue this exploration. Farmanfarmaian drew directly onto mirrors using coloured felt-tip pens, producing fine, precise lines that radiate across the reflective surface. The resulting compositions resemble geometric star maps, composed of intersecting polygons, radial axes and repeating symmetrical units. These astral configurations conjure the mathematical principles and cosmological symbolism within Islamic ornament, while the spare linear quality and diagrammatic clarity align the drawings with modernist concerns for structure and visual rhythm. 

^{*On view at Moderna Museet}