Education
2007
MFA, New York University, New York, New York
2002
Summer Studio Program, School of Visual Arts, New York, New York
1997
BA Political Science, Barnard College at Columbia University, New York, New York
Awards & Fellowships
2011
New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture
2009
Jameel Prize Winner, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Residencies
2010
Doris Duke Foundation, Honolulu, Hawaii
Public Collections
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, New York
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
The Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India
The Bristol Museum, Bristol, United Kingdom
Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan
Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India
The Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham Alabama
NYC Department of Education and Public Art for Public Schools, New York, New York
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, Massachusetts
Solo Exhibitions & Projects
2026-2027
Sounding Shell, an installation in conjuction with Sacred Splendor: Jewish Ritual Art and Christian Treasure from St. Vitus Cathedral, The Jewish Museum, New York, New York
2024
Sky Carpet, Kahlil Gibran International Academy, Percent for Art and Public Art for Public Schools, Brooklyn, New York
2023
within the metamorphosis, Lila Acheson Auditorium (Asia Society Museum), New York, NY
Spirit Canopy, Asia Society Museum, New York, New York
2021–2024
My House, My Tomb, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California
2018
The Presence of Your Absence is Everywhere, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee
2017
Echo’s Chamber, Sophia Contemporary, London, United Kingdom
No More Disguise, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, New York
2016
Mångata, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2014
Far from God, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, New York
2012
Suspended City, Bloom Projects, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, California
2011
The Hidden State, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, New York
2010
Angels in Combat, Isabelle Van den Eynde Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cages, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, New York
Selected Group Exhibitions
2027
Modernisms Now: Contemporary Responses to Iranian, Turkish, and Indian Art from NYU's Abby Weed Grey Collection, Grey Art Museum, New York University, New York, New York
2026
Turandot: To the Daughters of the East, a Collateral Event of the 61st Venice Biennale, Palazzo Cavalli - Franchetti, Venice, Italy
The Manifest, The Hidden, Perlman Teaching Museum at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
2024–2025
Selections from the Permanent Collection, Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas
2023
Invitations to Tremble, curated by Brooke Lynn McGowan, Management Gallery, New York, New York
2022
Light Play, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama
Here After, Bridge Projects, Los Angeles, California
2021
Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians - The Mohammed Afkhami Collection, Asia Society Museum, New York, New York
2019
A Bridge Between You and Everything: An Exhibition of Iranian Women Artists, curated by Shirin Neshat, High Line Nine, New York
2018
Long, Winding Journeys: Contemporary Art and the Islamic Tradition, Katonah Art Museum, Katonah, New York
2017-2022
Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada, Asia Society Museum, New York, New York
2016-2021
Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam through Time & Place, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, Philbrook, Tulsa Oklahoma, Asia Society, Houston, Texas, Pheonix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Burlington, Vermont, Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
2016
Far from God, Art Expo Chicago In/Situ Outside, Jane Addams Memorial Park, Chicago, Illinois
2015
New Ways of Seeing, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, New York
2014
Far from God, Fields Sculpture Park, Art OMI International, Ghent, New York
The Language of Human Consciousness, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Past Tradition, Exhibit 320, New Delhi, India
2013
Love Me, Love Me Not, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan Love Me Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbors, The 55th International Art Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia, curated by Dina Nasser-Khadivi, Venice, Italy
2012-2015
Doris Duke's Shangri-La: Landscape Architecture and Art touring exhibition, The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada; Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California; Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii
2012
Doris Duke's Shangri-La: Landscape, Architecture and Art, Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York
Contemporary Iranian Art in the Permanent Collection, The Hagop Kevorkian Fund Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
Making Tents, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, Idaho
That Sinking Sense of Wonder, Southfirst Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2010
Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Structures within an Intervention, The Guild Art Gallery, New York, New York
Tehran – New York, Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York, New York
Jameel Prize Exhibition, Sakip Sabanci Museum, Istanbul, Turkey; Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, United Arab Emirates; Beiteddine Palace, Lebanon; National Museum of Damascus, Syria; National Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2009
Jameel Prize Exhibition, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Artist Lectures
2027
Visiting Artist Lecture, The New School Parsons School of Design, New York, New York, April 21.
2024
Artist Lecture: Abodes of Solace, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, Texas, December 12.
Visiting Artist Lecture, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York, New York, September 24.
Conversation with Naz Cocuglu: To Those Whom No One Owns, Farhang Foundation and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California, May 25.
2023
Panelist: Woman, Life, Freedom: Stories of a Revolution in the Making, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, New York, March 8.
Artist Lecture: The Subtle Play of Light & Shadow, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama, April 6.
Artist Lecture: Enter Light - Portal To The Sacred, Occult Humanities Conference, New York, New York, October 15.
2022
Conversation with Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe: Spirit Canopy, Asia Society New York, New York, New York, February 4.
2021
Artist Lecture: Wondrous Worlds, The Carlos Museum at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, April 6.
2018
Visiting Artist Lecture, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, October 5-7.
2017
Visiting Artist Lecture, Cornell University Visiting Artist Lecture Series, New York, New York, April 27.
Artist Symposium: Rebel, Jester, Mystic Poet: Contemporary Persians, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Ontario, May 27.
Conversation with Sussan Babai: Echo’s Chamber, Sophia Contemporary, London, United Kingdom, November 21.
2016
Conversation with Mahnaz Fancy: Mångata, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, April.
2015
Artist Lecture: The Architecture of Worship, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, September 17.
2014
Colloquium for Modern and Contemporary Art from the Middle East and South Asia,The Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, New York, New York, February 5.
Artist Lecture: Far From God, Art OMI, Ghent, New York, October 4.
2012
Panelist: “Doris Duke’s Shangri-La: The Situation of Contemporary Artists in the Islamic World,” Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York, December 6.
2011
Artist Lecture, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, April 28.
2010
Visiting Artist lecture, University of Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 10.