Don Carstens Artist & Designer

Don Carstens  grew up in Iowa and  began his formal education in 1970 attending Laguna Beach School of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, CA. It was his exposure to epoxy resins while in school that led to Carstens’ pioneering the use of plastics and pigments in functional and fine art. The company Carstens Functional Art Forms was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles, CA; it was during this time Carstens caught the attention of hospitality and design luminaries creating custom furniture and art for clients such as Hilton Hotels, Rosewood Properties, Hirsch Bedner Associates, and Hatch Design Group.In 1987, Carstens expanded his artistic presence​ by launching a full-scale hospitality design firm, Don Carstens Associates. Over the next two decades, his canvas expanded to encompass the architectural design of luxury interior spaces and brand creation. The list of accomplishments are extensive and inspiring; a close examination of his portfolio speaks for itself.Through the years, Carstens’ fine art production has included several diverse and different introspective series: “Legends”, a primitive study of pictographs produced by some of the very first artists on this planet, “Presence in a Void”, a high-concept contemporary study using hi-gloss epoxy resin as canvas, and his most recent and current works conveyed through an abstract textural relief technique he is recognized for, developed and refined over the years . For more than 30 years, Carstens’ career has been a renaissance of sorts; expressing his artistic abilities with wildly divergent modules and forms satisfying his entrepreneurial spirit. Carstens’ work has been widely exhibited in the United States, with gallery representation in Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Scottsdale , Washington  D.C., Seattle , Sun Valley, and Las Vegas . His work is in many private and corporate collections throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Austria .