Tiki Man
Carving as a spiritual practice

by Ashley LeBlanc

Tucked into the heart of Opihikao lives a village of half-men, half-spirits. Some are short and whimsical. Some are tall and menacing. All of them were carved by Eddie the Tiki Man, and they sit in his front yard. Just from looking at the outside of his spray-painted tent, it is obvious that Eddie (who gives no surname) is an artist.

Once he emerges from the tent with paint-speckled jeans and tattoo-laden skin, that assumption is intensified. If you turn the corner and look at the work he has done, you are convinced.

For Eddie, (aka “Fast Eddie,”) transforming ordinary logs into handcrafted tiki effigies is a daily practice. Don’t let the name “Fast Eddie” fool you—tiki-making takes time at a pace of about one foot of wood per day. Eddie uses trees local to Opihikao including guava, mango, albizia, ironwood, wili wili, avocado, eucalyptus, and others. His tools include a run-of-the-mill chain saw, a smaller saw with a blade for finer shaping, and a pick. Each tiki is unique because he uses the natural shapes and “flaws” of the wood as a starting point.

Next comes the carving, which Eddie does free-form, without using outlines. Next, he spray paints the carved parts of the tiki for contrast. Finally comes the sanding, which can take about eight sessions before the smooth sheen of the wood is visible.

Eddie began his woodworking career as an apprentice for the renowned Jeffrey Greene. Under Greene’s guidance Eddie learned traditional Japanese woodworking, using solid wood joinery and wooden pegs and was so well-trained that he learned to rely on his own eye for measurements. He would continue to work with wood for the next 30 years.

After that, Eddie attended graphic design school and worked for a non-profit advertising company for two years. Disillusioned by the hurried and expectant world of advertising, Eddie returned to woodworking, this time making cabinets.

His got into making tikis while living in Seattle. For three years his work featured prominently in local art festivals. As far as how he reached his identity as “the tiki man,” Eddie’s only explanation is that carving tikis is in his blood. “There was never a question,” he said.

“Tiki” means “first man.” Eddie’s influences are the primitive Polynesian effigies of long ago, such as the ones standing on Easter Island, which have astounded visitors since the early 1700s. Polynesian tikis are said to be half-man and half-god. What sets them apart is that they are by nature free-form and allow more room for expression than tikis that began in other cultures.

Eddie is part of a dwindling movement in America known as Polynesian Pop Art. Born into the clean and conservative world of the 1950s, the Polynesian Pop Art movement symbols include a nude native girl, or the wahine, the palm tree, the hut, and the exotic vegetation of the tropics. But the tiki—like the lounge music perfected by Martin Denny—was the poster child for the movement that was part of the counter-culture during the rise of suburban America.

To Fast Eddie, tiki-making is a mental, physical, and spiritual journey that bridges the gap between the tangible and the intangible: the material world and the spiritual world.

He describes his work as “autobiographical,” in that he cannot be separated from it. “I’m just happy that I’m making other people happy with my work,” he said.

Eddie’s tikis fit every budget with prices ranging from $40-$2200. His studio is located off of Opihikao road where he does work-trade on an organic farm and Hawaiian retreat.

Contact Eddie at tikiartshawaii@yahoo.com.

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