ABOUT ATARA
Light. Art. Design
Light. Art. Design
Heike Stuckstedde/ATARA explores light as an artistic material and develops sculptural light objects and immersive installations at the intersection of art, architecture, and atmosphere.
ATARA light objects range from individual sculptural works and limited editions to large-scale light installations. The works are suitable for private and institutional collections as well as for architectural projects, hotels, businesses, and public spaces where light is understood as an identity-defining design element.
Each work strives to create a distinctive poetry of light – subtle, atmospheric, and timeless.
Artist Statement
German light artist Heike Stuckstedde/ATARA lives and works in Vienna. Her work focuses on exploring light as an independent artistic material. Her organic light objects and installations exist at the intersection of art, design, and atmosphere, investigating how light transforms spaces, alters perception, and evokes emotional resonance.
From her engagement with art history and interior design, she developed a unique artistic practice based on working with fiber optics. These optical fibers transmit light and, through targeted manual manipulation, emit it laterally. This creates delicate light structures that interact with materials such as textiles, handmade straw silk, fiberglass, metal, stone, or moss.
The works emerge from the dialogue between light, material, and location. Transparency, translucency, and spatial depth characterize her work, as does the fusion of natural appearance and technological innovation.
Transformation is a central motif: material loses its weight, and light gains physicality. Atmospheric spaces for experience are created, in which light appears not as mere illumination, but as a sensual, poetic presence.
Inspired by artists and architects such as James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, Tadao Ando, and Le Corbusier, Stuckstedde develops a unique artistic language in which light becomes a vibrant vehicle of expression, connecting space, material, and perception.
Biography
Heike Stuckstedde studied art history and interior design and combines both disciplines in her artistic work. Since founding ATARA in 2015, she has been developing organic light objects and site-specific installations for exhibitions, collections, and architectural projects.
Her work has been presented nationally and internationally and deliberately operates at the intersection of contemporary art, design, and architecture. The central question is always how light influences our perception of space, materiality, and atmosphere.
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