Born 1936

Barbara Kasten was born in Chicago. She studied painting and textiles at the University of Arizona (BFA) and the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland (MFA) before transitioning into photography. In the early 1980s Kasten began fabricating elaborate constructs with geometric objects, mirrors, and wire.

Of this body of Polaroid prints, critic/historian Estelle Jussim writes: "They are theatre, sculpture, painting, light play, all masquerading as photographs. They are obsessively perfect, complex, imaginative yet completely controlled." Among other awards Kasten is the recipient of Guggenheim, Fulbright-Hays, and NEA Fellowships. Kasten currently resides in Chicago, where she serves as a Distinguished Artist at Columbia College.