Ann Tiukinhoy Pamintuan’s journey to becoming a world-renowned designer began with an unexpected fascination: electroplating.
Ann Tiukinhoy PamintuanThis fixation, initially applied to delicate garden flowers, blossomed into a career crafting whimsical, otherworldly furniture and sculptures that have earned international acclaim.
“We started with jewelry, not the usual metal jewelry, but they all come from the garden,” Pamintuan says. “I just picked the flowers, and then it went through a process of electroplating. I had a friend who was into electroplating abroad, and he taught me.”
Inspiration Stems From Natural Environment
Pamintuan’s strongest inspiration stems from her natural environment in Davao, a city in the Phillipines that is rich with fruit-bearing plantations and vibrant flowering plants.
“Being surrounded by trees and flowers of all colors, shapes and textures, I had this desire to capture and preserve their natural beauty,” she says. “This desire, I believe, strengthened my impulse for design.”
Her daughter, Jo-Ann, remembers how the abundant millionaire vines in their Ladislawa garden, a leafy Davao City subdivision, sparked many of her mother’s designs. “We would pick up the ones that look like curtains and make them into rings,” Jo-Ann says, describing how they rolled the vines and electroplated them.
These vine rings eventually evolved into the design for Pamintuan’s iconic cocoon chair, a piece that transitioned her from jewelry to in-demand furniture design. She also creates figurines and sculptures, some of which have become public art installations from Makati to Davao.
“The design came from the ring; the wires, we tried to make it like the ring,” Jo-Ann explains.
Electroplating is Central to Aesthetic
For Pamintuan, electroplating is central to her aesthetic and artistic practice. “After I successfully plated a termite-eaten piece of wood, I just knew I could venture into sculpture,” she says.
Pamintuan, who is self-taught, believes her lack of formal art school training enhanced her creative intuition, which was further nurtured by Ikebana classes. In the 1990s, she created sinamay and abaca lamps, baskets and nesting sets, followed by the acclaimed cocoon chair in the 2000s.
At her Davao City factory, workers weld wires to sculpt Pamintuan’s designs, incorporating Jo-Ann's collaborative ideas. While the mother-daughter team handles the creative side, Pamintuan’s eldest son, Kim, manages the business.
Their participation in Manila FAME, organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, proved pivotal. In 1996, Pamintuan won Best Product Design for her abaca and metal piece, “Woman.” She won the same award in 2000 for the cocoon chair, which also received the Good Design Award from Japan’s Industrial Design Promotion Organization in 2003.
Honors and Awards
Ann Pamintuan with JoAnn and Kim.Pamintuan was the first Filipino and Asian designer featured in the International Design Yearbook, launched in London in 2002, catapulting her to global recognition. Her awards include the Graphis Product3 Design Series in New York, Best Contemporary Design in London, Best Product FIDEXPO in Russia, Best Craftsmanship from New York’s Editors’ Guild, Grand Prix in Stockholm and the Golden Shell Award of the Philippines.
Recognized as a creative force, Pamintuan joined Movement 8, a group of the country’s top designers.
Wanting to share her journey, Pamintuan founded the Mindanao Trade Expo, providing a platform for Mindanao-based designers to showcase their crafts. “I put them together and I trained them,” she says, emphasizing her desire to help other producers improve.
For her contributions to design and her efforts to elevate local talent, Pamintuan received the Datu Bago Award, Davao City’s highest honor, recognizing residents who have contributed to the city’s development with exemplary competence and dedication.
Written by Rudolph Ian Alama, Philippine Information Agency. Visit https://pia.gov.ph
