Ann Pamintuan’s menagerie at Ayala Malls the 30th

There’s a giraffe, a carabao, an ostrich and a monkey on the loose in Ortigas Center…and people are taking selfies with them.

These are some of the animals that artist-furniture designer Ann Tiukinhoy Pamintuan has sculpted for the new Ayala Malls The 30th on Meralco Ave., Pasig City.  Located at the spacious courtyard garden of the mall and the second floor activity center, Ann’s pieces in the exhibit “Simplicity and Elegance” are animals sculpted out of wire, her favorite material. It’s the same material that catapulted her to fame in the 1990s when she began designing furniture and participating in design fairs here and abroad with the original team of designers of Movement 8.

“We’re lucky to have her pieces at the mall and they’re very popular with our customers,” says Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Malls The 30th general manager. “Ayala Malls The 30th is not just your typical community lifestyle mall, it is a haven and a venue for artists and other creative individuals to celebrate their talents. This collaboration is the first of many showcases that we have planned for the year as we’re committed to supporting Filipino talent and ingenuity.”

On loan to the mall, some of the sculptures are from Ann’s personal collection, pieces she doesn’t want to part with, like the carabaos “because they’re difficult to make.” 

The two ostriches are some of the rare pieces that Ann has put color to (gold and silver) and she jokes, “Mas sosyal na ang ostrich ngayon.” She also once did a butanding (whale shark) for CITEM’s Manila FAME exhibit and her pieces are found in the lobbies of Seda Hotels, and offices and homes here and abroad.  

How long does it take to produce one figure? “When we’re not busy with our export orders of furniture and jewelry pieces, I do this. There should be no pressure so that I can put my heart and soul into it.”

A lot of her pieces are mother-and-child animals, the relationship seen in the way the mothers’ bodies are turned toward their children.

 “There’s a lot of families and kids that come to the mall and we tell the guards not to stop them when they touch the sculptures because that’s how the artist likes it,” says Mariana. “We’re trying to work with the communities and schools to allow people to explore their passion.”

Ann’s fascination with animals began with a horse that she did in Davao many years ago.  “It’s exciting and difficult because you have to show the muscles. Remember, I didn’t go to any formal school of design, but just by studying the anatomy of the horse, I was able to start it.” 

It’s about two decades since Ann, a former banker, was asked by then CITEM director Eli Pinto to design furniture. Eli had seen Ann’s jewelry pieces in an exhibit in Brunei and wanted her to join Movement 8. They went back and forth, with Ann hesitating a long time.

“It was a Sunday and I had no material around,” says Ann. What she did was to literally use her gauge-10 sampayan  (clothesline) to design a chair! And the rest is design history, becoming the first Asian woman designer to be included in the prestigious International Design Yearbook.

Ann may be known as the “Iron Lady” of design because of her work with wire and metal, but she’s all heart when it comes to her animal sculptures.

She once did a pair of sibling horses in Greenbelt and one weekend, she saw a man standing from his wheelchair to hug her horse sculpture. “I thought, wow, that was what I want. I love it when people touch the sculptures because then my work becomes more meaningful. I also want to inspire young people to become artistic even without formal art schooling.”

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Visit the author’s travel blog at www.findingmyway.net. Follow the author on Twitter and Instagram @iamtanyalara.

Ayala Malls The 30th is located at 30 Meralco Ave, Pasig City. For more information, follow their Facebook and Instagram pages.