Man in Kneed, 2004
Glazed ceramic tile
6.25" X 4"

JOHN KIRSLIS

Born in 1954 to an artist mother and a scientist father, John S. Kirslis started making jewelry at the age of thirteen, launching him on a professional adventure that has lasted 30 years.

His education includes art and pre-med at Georgia State University, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Wisconsin, where he studied jewelry and art and graduated with a BS in Fine Arts in 1974.

John worked for 25 years as a jewelry designer (Kenneth Jay Lane in NYC, Valley Craft Village, NJ), studied art for 6 months in Paris, moved to the Poconos, developed his own jewelry business, and always, always painted, drew, and sculpted in his leisure time. At 45 he began to seriously pursue art.

In 2002 he exhibited 240 drawings of the male nude in his one-man show Ecce Homo at Liztech Galleries in East Stroudsburg, PA. He has also shown at LLGAF.

John has done miniature sculpture in pewter and bronze and is now exploring bas relief ceramic tiles and full-round ceramic sculptures. He continues to develop an unusual drawing technique in life drawing using mixed media. He hopes to break down prejudice against nude male imagery.

Passionate Men: Ceramics and Works on Paper, by John Kirslis, LLGAF, Sept. 13–Oct. 15, 2005