Made by Hand

A handmade book exploring Octavio Paz’s “El uso y la contemplación”, lithography printed and set in Spanish and English.

This writing celebrates the intimacy of craft and the beauty of the artist’s hand evident in the work. I chose to use mug handles to celebrate the handmade object and how it invites the viewer to also participate in the sensation of touch. I imagine series of photographs  as  a dance between the two mugs, with the camera zooming in and out of focus their features and their interaction together.

Behind the Scenes

 Because this book is a celebration of the handmade, I used a rough, textured paper for the final product. I combined pages with hand printed and laser printed images, allowing the ink and paper to interact in their own way. I let the process of creating guide the creation of the book itself, to emphasize the sensation of touch for the reader and the artist’s hand in the design.

This project began as an exploration of handles in different forms, and the intimacy of the hand-to-object interaction. I photographed and printed compositions using different handles that I encountered in my every day life. I ultimately chose mug handles because I was fascinated with their form and intimacy of use. Their only function is to be held; therefore, the designed handle becomes an end itself rather than a functional tool.