Crazy AL Evans is a Southern California-based artist working in many types of sculpture and a variety of media. Since 1992, Crazy AL's “Bone Productions” has been producing Tiki-inspired products on a small scale for a Tiki-depleted market. In the summer of 1996, AL was asked to carve two large tikis to complete the renovation of a friend's backyard. Large Tikis were a new challenge to AL and he jumped into the adventure cold but with a heated passion. The first six logs that were to be carved came from the front yard of his childhood home in Scottsdale, AZ. The Phoenix area, with its plentiful Poly-Pop, Sun-Belt tropical surroundings, played a large part in developing a Tiki-Psyche in young AL. The stump of this palm log was personally dug up by AL, root ball and all, for his Tiki #3 "King Tiki." It would appear in the Tiki News/La Luz de Jesus "21st Century Tiki" show in October of 1996. These first tikis were carved with limited knowledge of technique other than photographic scrap books as source material. Images scrounged from sources such as 'pre-Book of Tiki' Sven Kirsten archives and an Oceanic Arts catalog steered direction. The lack of traditional training provided a unique, creative meandering through this new journey. For his large Tiki creations, AL works almost exclusively in palm wood. Crazy AL's technique has developed an exploitation of the many layers and textures of the material. Ten years ago, staring at the blank log, and starting at its surface, each dramatically different layer revealed amazing opportunities to create complexity in design and concept. The natural material, a once living tree, is shown off, not hidden, in the Tikis of Crazy AL. Once again, the southwestern origins of AL's upbringing come into play as Native American art was very prevalent in his home. His father's Hopi Kachina Dolls that loomed over him in his youth gave him a clear understanding of Art as a translator. Natural forces, God, Man, the unexplained are suddenly clear through an artist's creation. As a mainland Tiki carver, AL's goal is to create unique and individual creations of meaning and importance. For the most part, it is not his intention to mimic Polynesian Art.
The recent works of velvet paintings reveal that palm Tikis are just one avenue of the art of Crazy AL Evans. The last decade has seen the growth of Tiki Culture and AL has continued to be at the forefront of the revelry. A singer and a songwriter, he is the frontman for the neo-Exotica band APE. As APE plays the classic sounds of Hawaii on steel guitars and ukulele, or as wild incarnations of Exotica and Calypso come forth, the enchanting music inspires AL to rythmically chop a Tiki into being from a raw log. The beat of the music moves his axe with savage abandon. These 45-90 minute Tikis are the alter ego to Crazy AL's usual fair, which can take over 50 hours of carving insanity. Crazy AL Evans has recently been seen on local and national TV carving Tikis on the Discovery Channel's “Dude Room” and the TV Guide Channel's “Ready Set Change.”
