Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero of Luftwerk are known for their atmospheric explorations of color, light, and space. Their research-based practice seeks to capture the immaterial poetics of natural phenomena, illuminating our subjective and illusive perception of the existing spectrum of light. Their work engages viewers in specific sensorial moments, quotations from our world. They use gradients of colored light, pigments from the botanical world, and often draw insight from historical color classification systems. Sometimes site-specific and responsive to architecture, at other moments more sculpturally discrete, Luftwerk’s captivating work connects us with nature.

Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero are Chicago-based artists. After meeting in 1999 while studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, they formed Luftwerk Studio in 2007.   Their chosen name—a combination of the German words Luft (air) and Werk (work, artwork—is meant to emphasize both the ephemeral, immaterial properties of light and the material frameworks in which it takes shape and is experienced. The concept of Luftwerk has proven a conceptual touchstone for over twenty years of artistic collaboration.