Rico Espinet is known for creating striking, poetic environments that combine clean lines and simple forms. Reflecting his training as a sculptor, Rico's design sensibility is grounded in materials and values that endure. His spaces mix furnishings, lighting, accessories, industrial objects, and fine art in settings at once comfortable and freshly discerning. In the mid-1990s, Rico returned to his studio, a converted elementary school, in the Amish community of rural Stone Arabia, New York, to work on commissions and create what would become his first lighting line. His Monk Lamp, crafted with a microphone base, plumbing parts, and an industrial machinist shade, appeared in an international Hunter Douglas ad that ran for two years in many magazines, creating serious buzz and a lengthy waiting list. Jeffrey and Darlene Rose called, and for 16 years, Rico has designed residential and contract lighting for Robert Abbey, Inc. Features