West Virginia newspaper does a story about Ed's Heads appearance on TV show PM Magazine

Charleston Daily Mail — Charleston, West Virginia — Friday Evening, March 29, 1985

Without, or With, Offence to Friends or Foes, I Sketch Your World Exactly as It Goes

Artist Gives Florida's State Tree New Life

Picture This — by John Hudkins

Picture this ... a balmy week of vacation in central Florida and an interview with an interesting young Florida wood sculptor who is rapidly carving a national reputation for himself with his enigmatic sculptures. It's a change of pace and locale.

The artist, Ed Volonnino, piqued my interest when a recent segment of the television show "PM Magazine" featured him along with his unique art.

The Florida space coast, with its stellar attraction of the Kennedy Space Center, is in the vicinity of a number of small communities that include Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island and Indialantic. It was in the coastal town of Indialantic that I visited the home studio of Volonnino, the creator of "Ed's Heads."

I found Volonnino, successful at age 26, to be a friendly, articulate and animated artist eager to discuss the ramifications and techniques of his unusual art form.

Ed's Heads are sculpted from trunk stumps of various lengths and thicknesses of the cabbage palm, Florida's state tree. The logs are stored and dried for about a year before the carving begins. The expressions that emerge from the pulpy and fibrous textures of the wood are totems, distorted designs of grotesque heads displaying dramatic attitudes of human emotion.

"My guys," Volonnino said, "take form as individuals from the trunks I work on. I look for distinguishing marks in the wood and I see a face in every piece I carve. I think I liberate them. Each of my fellows seems to have his own personality."

Volonnino is a self-taught artist. He formerly lived in St. Louis where he attended high school and learned to sculpt in clay. His current style evolved from an informal study and influence of the Aztec, Inca and Malayan cultures. He also admits to an affinity for the sculpture of Michelangelo.

The sculptures appeared to me as a
form of bas relief expressionism lightened with a bit of
and whimsy. His startling countenances reminded me of the early 20th century portraits of Fauve artist Georges Rouault; without the touch of tragedy. Tikis or totems, the art is strong and visually stimulating.

The young artist totally is enmeshed in the business of being a success. He currently is working on numerous commissions — including a giant chess set and a sculptured mural. His sales are brisk and he is represented in an increasing number of galleries, sculpture gardens and civic locations. One of the region's most ostentatious shopping malls, Merritt
, owns several of his pieces. Photographs of his work are also in demand for record album covers.

It was a refreshing vacation experience for me. I never would have found artist Volonnino without the help of Joseph Romeo, proprietor of the Art Shop in Cocoa Beach. I like to write about artists with enthusiasm and something original to say and the skill to say it. "Ed's Heads" —
or intimate — it makes no difference; the adventure is what counts.