Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian often grouped her work into series she called “families,” suggesting a familial affinity of form, dimensionality or structure between works in each group. Fourth Family (2013) is a series of individual mirror-works, in which cut polygonal fragments of reverse-painted glass are arranged into kaleidoscopic compositions grounded on principles of Islamic geometry. Blending influence from Sufi architecture, Western minimalism, and classical Persian decoration, the series begins with the sacred fundamental form of the triangle and progresses through the remaining seven regular polygons in Euclidean geometry. Each sculpture in this series ultimately represents a unique shape progressing from three to ten sides. Here, rigorous structure and repetition are the foundations of invention and limitless variation: each sculpture is anchored by central, multi-sided linear shapes whose features define an infinitely outward-spanning tessellation of form.

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