Lajwanti Waghray
Maker’s Hands
As a visual documentarian, Laj Waghray utilizes the power of film to evoke a sense of the haptic. She extends the narrative of makers’ creations by interpreting their journey through her lens and medium. Drawn to the way hands become a means of expression and creation, Waghray aimed to capture the sheer pleasure and satisfaction that makers gain from using their hands.
Hands introduces us to the world. They are our primary mode of gaining a tactile understanding of what surrounds us. Acts of creation emerge from planning and clear intent and hands become a conduit for expression. The satisfaction that working with hands provides is something primal and outside of material and monetary standards of success today. Most makers will claim that their intuitive, obsessive, and committed use of their hands brings them a satisfaction that is beyond our conventional understanding of value. This process of translating the world through their hands is essential for the maker’s emotional sustenance.
The Look Here! Project led Waghray to the UWM Special Collection’s artists’ books showcasing hands as a subject. She also became interested in the Milwaukee Handicraft Project (part of the digital collection, Wisconsin Arts Projects of the WPA), a program created to provide employment for Americans affected by the Great Depression. Waghray was interested in this collection because most of the people that were trained as part of the Milwaukee Handicraft Project worked with their hands.
At a time when our experiences are mediated through technology and our social interactions become distanced with social media, this film brings our attention back to an essential way of experiencing the world.
Source Images
