About Jim
Jim Conley is a ceramicist who specializes in decorative and sculptural vessels and lamps under the mark Kilnit.World.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri to a TWA jet-mechanic father and a psychiatric-ward nurse mother, the artist first embraced ceramics as a child with Nystagmus, a rare eye condition. The tactile nature of clay allowed him to express himself creatively in three dimensions.
His early influences included Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch in St Louis and the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New York. Both feature organic shapes to project a sweeping optimistic vision of the future.
Over the years, as Jim’s vision improved, with the help of therapies and surgeries, his love affair with ceramics evolved during his time at Georgetown and Harvard, and while building a career as a technology executive. During this time, his influences grew to include artists such as Alexander Calder, Umberto Boccioni, Kader Attia, Matthew Barney, Marina Abramovic and Charles Ray.
He honed his craft, studying ceramics at Greenwich House Pottery & Art School in Greenwich Village. Additionally, he worked in Los Angeles' A Bitter Root, Manhattan's La Mano, and Brooklyn's Williamsburg Ceramics Center.
As his body of work grew, he began to create works for private collectors and ultimately, decided to share his creations more broadly with the launch of Kilnit.World in 2021. The name Kilnit.World is meant to signify the balance between the artist’s mastery of non-mechanical organic processes and an irreverent sense of curiosity in search of global inspirations.
"Happy Tears" is Kinit.World's first pottery collection. Just as water symbolizes a change in literature, these teardrop-shaped earthen forms celebrate changes in life from subtle moods to tectonic emotional shifts. The vessels and lamps are formed from hand-thrown slabs of clay.
Over a three-week period, the artist tempers, cures and applies water to the clay daily to ensure a precise balance of static and elastic, firm and malleable. Finished with a pewter or satin glaze, they are kiln-fired to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of the works bear a signature stripe marking the contrast between the textures of rough, natural bisque and smooth glaze.
Kilnit.World launched at the Bergdorf Goodman store in New York City in August 2022 in the home department on the seventh floor. The collection is also available on the kilnit.world website. Kilnit.World can also be found @wilnit.world on Instagram.
All Kilnit.World product is made by Jim Conley in Brooklyn, New York. The artist splits his time between Gramercy Park in New York City and the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.