Choose lighting that makes a statement

Creative new shapes and technology mean that home lighting fixtures often do far more than provide illumination. They can be exciting and sculptural works of art.

"Designs are now not only a source of light, but a distinctive feature of an interior design," says New York architect West Chin.

Chin recently hung a frothy cluster of LED glass bubbles over a dining table in a minimalist apartment on Manhattan's High Line.

The fixture's a focal point in an otherwise sparely decorated space. In a Flatiron duplex, he placed a trio of mesh orbs over the staircase; when the lights are on, shadows dance theatrically against a paneled feature wall.

Chin's also a fan of Stickbulb, a lighting component created by RUX studio in New York City.

This 2016 photo provided by Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design shows one of the rooms in a Montauk, N.Y. beach house with Ghislaine Viñas' design. The bold, colorful statement lighting becomes not only illumination but art in her design. Viñas used Alvaro Catalan de Ocon's PET Lamp chandelier, placing the colorful fixture in an all white dining space. "It really pops and becomes a conversation piece," she says. (Garrett Rowland/Ghislaine Viñas Interior Design via AP)

The "stick" is offered in maple, walnut, reclaimed heart pine, ebonized oak or redwood that's been salvaged from one of New York's old water towers.

Fitted with an LED, the sticks attach to a central metal element and can be configured into various shapes, such as fireworks or cantilevered mobiles.

At Milan's Salone del Mobile this April, the Euroluce lighting exhibition halls showcased LEDs and other technology in imaginative ways.

Hungarian firm Manooi used Swarovski crystals to craft sinuous fixtures evocative of infinity symbols.

Bocci showed fixtures made by injecting soda water into hot glass, then folding and stretching it into pearlescent pendants that looked like giant glowing ribbon candy.

This undated photo provided by Corbett Lighting shows their Theory LED Pendant light. (Corbett Lighting via AP)

Designer Tom Dixon took over Milan's iconic old theater, Cinema Manzoni, to show his furniture and lighting. One collection was called Cut; the faceted clear or smoky fixtures, with mirrored finishes and metalized interiors, resembled enormous futuristic crystals. (www.tomdixon.net)

"When we're planning a room that calls for a large piece of statement lighting, we always start with that piece first, building everything else around it," say Brandon Quattrone and Mat Sanders of Consort Design in Los Angeles.

"You want it to be the wow factor in a room. If you're hanging a dining-room chandelier, keep the surrounding walls simple, with a minimal piece of artwork or some subtle shelf styling."