Since the 1970s, Kasten has created abstract compositions that confound expectations of what photography can be. Her Construct series began with 8-by-10- inch Polaroids of tableaux she created in her studio and then continued on an oversize 20-by-24-inch instant camera when, in 1981, she became one of the first artists to join Polaroid’s Artist Support Program. The series referenced early 20th-century abstraction, playing on the dichotomy that still lifes of lights, mirrors, and props were both “constructed” by Kasten and “deconstructed” by her photographs. While some of her images are comprised of identifiable objects, others, like Construct XXI, seem to hover on some edge between the physical and the intangible as solid forms shift into flat planes of colored light. Although best known for these images, Kasten never restricted herself by medium and has continued to explore abstraction through a multimedia practice that includes architecture, installation, painting, performance, photography, and textile.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)