In 1979, Farmanfarmaian and her second husband, Abol-Bashar, traveled to New York to visit family. Around the same time, the Islamic Revolution began, and so the Farmanfarmaians found themselves exiled from Iran, an exile that would last for over twenty years. Farmanfarmaian attempted to reconcile her mirror mosaics with the limited resources offered in America, but such lacking materials and comparatively inexperienced workers restricted her work. In the meantime, she placed larger emphasis on other aspects of her art, such as commissions, textile designs, and drawing.