Khalil Jannah | Episode 1171

Khalil Jannah is chasing giants. Khalil makes big pots that seem to defy the laws of physics and boggle the imagination. In 2025 Khalil captured to world record for the largest vase. And though not a Chinese national, Khalil has been recognized as a Jingdezhen Master. Over his eleven years of wheel work, Khalil makes human-sized bottle, has an impressive demonstration record, and fulfils massive restaurant orders.

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How do you keep your eyes on the journey and not get caught up in the weeds of looking at the destination?

I mean for me, I have already arrived. I went to a boarding school where I sat in silence for 45 minutes twice a week, but the journey is everything. The journey is the destination.

Do you love or appreciate the small steps?

I mean, I think that’s the only thing, again it kind of goes back to what I said a little bit ago. The small steps accumulated are the big steps, right. What I ate this morning versus the small cup I threw yesterday, it’s all the same.

You seem to have a growth mindset where you will throw away a pot if it isn’t up to your standards. Why is that?

 I look at a lot of Japanese wood cuts. Hokusai is one of my favorite artists. I think, and it’s all relative, right. The throwing of perfectly symmetrical pieces is a lot easier than the looser work. I am trying to make sure everything is 100 percent centered, but in the future, I can easily see my work as extremely loose and way more intuitive.

When you are making and it’s not a winner piece, or if it is a winning piece, how do you find meaning in the work itself?

That one’s difficult. And it’s difficult because for me the meaning stems from creating the work, being in the studio, sweating over a vase, being completely mentally and physically, emotionally exhausted at the end of every single day throwing a large piece like that.  So honestly, a lot of the final result is for the people and less so for myself.

It sounds like you have had to develop a rich sense of resilience, is that accurate?

A hundred percent. (laughter). Yeah, I can’t see myself doing anything else. And if I wanted to, I would have started years ago and I would have quit a long time ago.

How do you keep yourself in the flow state?

Actually, that’s one of the books that I was going to recommend today. (about flow)

For me it used to be music. When I was in survival mode which was the better half of the past six years, my internal dialog was literally on fire. It was non-stop thinking, it was, Am I going to make rent this year? Will I get evicted?  Working at other jobs 7 days a week. So, in terms of the flow of everything, I think silence is huge and it’s really difficult when it’s non stop thinking.

When does irresponsible become less significant than chasing the possible?

 You know it really depends on the person. I get the safety aspect of it all. I get the conservative aspect of it. I have degree from one of the top colleges in the United States. Why are you still chasing ceramics instead of getting a tech job? I get it. I think it gets back to maybe passion. I don’t know what to call it, but like I said I gave everything to it and then the check fraud thing hit and that for me was the final straw.  But that’s when survival mode stopped and my mind has never been more quiet.

Book

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Contact

Instagram: @kaleeul