Interview

David: Has your sexuality influenced your work?

Edmund: Of coarse. I mean look at those fluid lines. Look at those curves and arabesques. There’s no straight hard-edged anything. It’s organic, sensual. I always think the essence of my work is about hair, which is one of the most sensuous things about our bodies. Wood is the hair of the planet. It is an extremely sensuous thing.

David: I guess that makes you a planetary hair stylist.

(Laughter)

Edmund: That’s right. I’ve often called myself a cosmic hairdresser. (Laughter)

Yes, It’s all bundles of fibers.

David: Have your relationships had any influence on your work?

Edmund: Oh yes, everyone I know has had a profound influence on my work, I think. People that I know from books, as well as people that I know in the flesh. I’ve also had some very generous help from lots of people, and people have responded to my energy, and given me support. But I think my work is strictly self-discovery. I can’t link it to any particular person or other artist. It’s a solitary search. I’m a very solitary person. I run away from complicated relationships. I don’t like anything to jeopardize my sense of freedom and liberty. I don’t want responsibilities for other living things. I want everything to take care of itself and themselves. So anytime any relationship encroaches on that sense of liberty, I take a powder. I’m outta here.

David: You don’t like having a garden or pets around?

Edmund: Yes, I have a garden, because I like things to be beautiful. I had a dog for fourteen years. When I moved to Big Sur this lady gave me a wonderful poodle. I named him Guru, because I knew he was going to teach me how to look after something. I was willing, and I knew that he would help me make the transition in my life to Big Sur. And he did. He forced me to adjust my life patterns to be considerate and deal with his needs. But now I don’t want another one. I guess I’ve always been a very aloof person. I’ve had relationships – sexual, sensual, friends – and anytime they began to demand anything of me, or fit me into a picture with a frame around it…

David: You just step right through the frame.

Edmund: That’s right. Yes, I see that I’m a very isolated person these days because I don’t get more involved with people.

David: There’s a lot of passion in your work.

Edmund: Yes, there’s no question about it. There’s a giant sexual energy in my work. I have a giant sexual energy. I’ve always had an insatiable appetite. Part of my reason in moving up here was to send that energy in a different direction.

David: So you feel that you’ve channeled a lot of sexual energy into your work?

Edmund: No question about it. All of that energy that I was dissipating on affairs and fooling around was later channeled into my work, absolutely. And there is satisfaction in re-channeling that energy. I mean, then it’s truly creative.

David: I’ve always felt that sexual energy and creative energy were one in the same.

Edmund: Well I’ve always felt there is nothing but sexual energy. It’s the first and primal energy.

David: And every other form of energy is…?

Edmund: A sub-division, that’s right. I’ve ever only been craving one thing – that’s reunion with the One.

David: What do you think happens to consciousness after the death of the body?

Edmund: I prefer to know when I experience it.

David: Well sure, of coarse you’re not going to know until you experience it.

Edmund: That’s right. And I know all the illusions that men have created for themselves. I consider myself successfully disillusioned.

David: What do you mean by that?

Edmund: I don’t believe any of those stories.

David: Do you disbelieve them?

Edmund: No, I don’t disbelieve them, but I don’t believe them.

David: So you just feel very open to the mystery of it?

Edmund: That’s right. It’s totally neutral.

David: Do you think that consciousness survives death?