In this Q&A with curator Sonia Ner, Davao-based furniture designer Ann Pamintuan, one of the members of the  globally respected Movement 8, talks about her design philosophy, her fluid artistic process, and how, despite her lack of a design background, she found her groove.

Note: This interview appears in the exhibit catalog of Pamintuan’s jewelry show at the Yuchengco Museum last summer. Thanks to Carla Martinez and Jeannie Javelosa for letting us run this on Pinoycentric.

Sonia Ner: Let us start with your name. Tiukinhoy is an uncommon name.
Ann Pamintuan: Tiukinhoy lays bare my Chinese lineage. We come from the same clan as the rest of the Tius, most of whom were migrants to the Visayas from Xiamen, known as Amoy in the earlier part of the twentieth century. My grandfather chose to have his first names Kin Hoy appended to Tiu, hence the name.

A Chinese friend recently told me kin means gold and hoy means leaf. I find that fascinating—my name foretold what I would be doing: turning leaves into gold!

What about your background—your childhood, education, the environment—do you think had a direct influence on your designs?
I was born and raised in Surigao, where the soil is fertile. My twelve siblings and I had nature at such an unspoiled state as our playground. I was surrounded by trees and flowers of all colors, shapes, and textures. I had this desire to capture and preserve their natural beauty. This desire, I believe, strengthened my impulse for design.

Did you go to an art school or take art classes?
No, I did not. I took up a business course for college and was employed in a bank soon after graduation. The only art classes I ever took—if you can call them that—were lessons in ikebana, to which my mother-in-law took me. Looking back, I believe I learned much about composition, line, and the discipline of simplicity from those lessons. At the very least, they affirmed how basic I want things to be.

How did you get started on your artistic career?
I did not deliberately set out to pursue an artistic career. I was a housewife in Davao with time in my hands. I started embroidering clothes for my daughter and then went into making belts and bags, which a sister in New York sold. But those were just hobbies. After attending a weeklong seminar on electroplating, I became excited about its possibilities.

The fusion of organic material and metal simply fascinated me. I started electroplating leaves, roots, and flowers in gold, silver, and copper. That is how my jewelry line was born. From jewelry, I went into tabletop accessories, such as vases and bowls. After I successfully plated a termite-eaten piece of wood, I just knew I could venture into sculpture.

Which leads us to ask about your leap from jewelry to furniture.
I like to think of it as a natural progression of things. You always want to try something new and fresh, and sometimes, bigger than the last thing you did. The tabletop objects were suddenly on the floor and rising to considerable heights! Roots placed alongside each other became the springboard for working on metal wires and whatever else I wanted regardless of their sizes—there were no limitations.

You make it sound so easy. Was it really that simple?
I would not say that it was simple. Since I did not have any formal training or apprenticeship in what I was doing, I learned the hard way at the workshop. There were hits and misses, a lot of trial and error. In the beginning, I spent a lot of time putting something together and then breaking it apart to make it better. Now I am more confident of the direction I want my designs to take.

In a trade fair in Milan, a German designer went out of his way to interview me just to ask about my design background. When I told him I had none, he was amazed because he said my Cocoon Chair was “a perfect engineering marvel.” That remark certainly boosted my confidence.

I was also most fortunate to have the support of my family, friends, and CITEM, particularly the late Ely Pinto.

What would you consider your big break in the furniture industry?
I think my biggest break was when I was featured in the International Design Yearbook in 2002. That was quite an honor as I was told I am the first Asian woman to receive that award. You don’t seek it—it is given to you as an acknowledgment of your contribution to design. That, to me, is a pretty big break and extremely flattering.

What is your design process and how would you describe your style?
I like simple, clean lines devoid of “visual noise.” My designs are fundamentally intuitive and unstructured.

I always start out with an idea that can come from out of nowhere. More often than not, they come when I am traveling and seeing new things. I do not follow any school of design. I trust my creative instincts and my love for creating beautiful objects. It is this passion that drives me.

Why the fascination with metal? The material is always present in what you make.
Again, it must be the Chinese in me. To the four elements—earth, wind, water, and fire—the Chinese add a fifth element: metal.

I love metal. I can mold it to my heart’s desire. I can literally bend iron to my will. Despite its formidable characteristics of hardness and strength, I can make my furniture enticing.

I am also warming up to working with wood and stone. For me they seem to possess the wisdom of age.

You have made your mark in the furniture industry. Why the emphasis on jewelry again.
I have always been interested in designing jewelry. Despite my seeming preoccupation with furniture and sculpture, I kept making jewelry pieces, although I did not market them. I consider jewelry sculpture in miniature. And I like the idea of giving permanence to the beauty that roots, leaves, flowers, and even vegetables possess.

The design process for jewelry, furniture, or sculpture is the same for me. I can easily shift from designing very small jewelry objects to huge pieces of sculpture without fear of losing my sense of proportion or scale. I guess I am simply adventurous. Or maybe my being unschooled in the arts has its advantage—I simply do it, letting my spirit move me!

You seem to have successfully harnessed your creativity into a successful business venture. To what do you attribute that?
It must be the Chinese genes in me! I was persistent and diligent and very hands-on. There were, and still are, problems in organization, sourcing, manpower, and cash flow, but I have managed well enough.

Now that my three children are done with schooling, I can count on their help to take care of production, marketing, and finance.

What can we expect from you in the near future?
I have been commissioned to sculpture for buildings, and I continue to design furniture and participate in trade shows. I have started to paint on canvas. As for jewelry, what I make now is known in the trade as “bridge jewelry,” which straddles fine jewelry and fashion jewelry. I may venture into fine jewelry. The idea of learning a new technology is always exciting. I am blessed with an open and a very curious mind. I will continue to learn and explore new materials and techniques. That is the only way to go.

Photo credit: Yuchengco Museum

Related stories:
Ann Pamintuan’s Midas Touch
Kenneth Conbonpue: Conquering the World, One Design at a Time

See Ann Pamintuan’s designs on Gilded Expressions