John Kindness

John Kindness' piece Tea-Time Spider,1997 combines the ceramic medium with dinnerware(knives and forks) to create exactly what the title of the piece implies.  The body of a tea kettle spouts out into the form of  spider's thorax before returning to and ending in a spout. The ceramic body has the look of a patchwork quilt. Aside from creating an interesting juxtaposition between texture and implied texture, this invokes a sort of nostalgia. This piece is one out of many in Kindness' series The Museum of the Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly. In this series he creates several hybrid forms that in one way or another carry the story book feel.  

Kindness's work also seems to be commenting on the medium of ceramics. In choosing to create a hybrid form, leaving elements of a tea kettle behind, he references some traditional uses and understanding of ceramics. This self awareness adds a touch more humor to the experience.