Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero met in 1999 while studying at the Art Institute of Chicago and soon discovered a shared interest in installations that transform and sculpt spaces using light, color, and texture, prompting them to found their own studio. Asked how they came up with the name Luftwerk, they reply: “We wanted to find a name that reflected how people experience our work.” Luft (air) stands for the ephemeral, immaterial, and volatile properties of their favorite material, light. Werk (work, artwork) alludes to the materiality of surfaces, structures, and methods, and defines the framework in which light and sound
take shape. Their work shifts the viewer’s perceptions of space and site through light, color, and sound opening new conversations by inviting the public to experience the familiar transformed.