Puppeteer Michael Montenegro didn’t use any strings or sock puppets in his performance piece Saturday night, but the beauty of the hands did not go unnoticed.

Montenegro expanded the traditional perspectives of puppet theater with “The Sublime Beauty of Hands,” a fusion of mask, puppet and movement theater that was showcased at Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave. in Chicago. The Evanston-based writer and director brought his work to Chicago as part of a performance series running at the art venue.

Montenegro co-founded the Zapato Puppet Theater in Evanston a few years ago. He also has worked at the Actors Gymnasium at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St.

In his latest piece, Montenegro looks at the continual violence existing in society, which he compares to a “big machine.” This mechanized violence creates victims who are found voiceless, given no opportunity to express their pain and sorrow.

“I think I am deeply troubled and moved by what’s happening at present in our world,” Montenegro said. “As an artist I feel a responsibility to make a statement in regards to my reactions.”

The victims of the current war in Iraq heavily influenced the performance, Montenegro said, specifically those killed by the bombing in Fallujah. But for Montenegro the sources of violence remain ambiguous.

“It is important to ask what the origin of violence is and how we may be in part responsible,” he said.

The piece featured five performers who remained mute and faceless, hidden under a veil throughout the performance. As the bitter tones of a keyboard and strings filled the opening scene, the five walked slowly towards the audience in mourning of a slain victim. In the following scenes, the performers told the story of the creation of violence and its lasting effects through creative movements with their hands.

Lucas Durant, a student at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., enjoyed the event.

“I thought it was really interesting and evoked surrealist imagery, ” Durant said. “It was moving, in a sense, to think of all the things we do with our hands, the good and the bad.”

Montenegro also incorporated various art pieces that added to the visual effect of the performance. One of the performers wore a clay sculpture of a head formed by Montenegro. Another performer acted alongside a movable arm made out of wire.

“I don’t see a great divide between the art forms, they are just different forms of expressing the same idea,” Montenegro said.

The use of music is central to the performance. Evanston resident Jude Mathews composed original music selections for the piece and has worked with Montenegro for four years.

“The music is more than background material,” Mathews said. “It makes me feel like I’m not just underlying decoration, that I have more of an important role.”

The performance is a part of “Infinitesimals … a brief look at the immeasurable,” a monthlong festival at Links Hall, curated by Meghan Strell.

Montenegro’s piece will run again Feb. 18-20 at 7:30 p.m. at Links Hall.

Reach Lensay Abadula at [email protected].