“Remnants of That Time”: A Design-Based Study in Textile Art Through the Lens of Somatic Memory and the Metaphor of the Wound

This article examines the wound metaphor in textile art through its psychological, philosophical, symbolic and artistic dimensions, with a focus on its potential for conceptual and visual expression. Using Design-Based Research (DBR), the study investigates how the wound metaphor can be materialized on textile surfaces through fiber, stitching, layering and repair, while tracing the relationship between theory, artifact and practice. The research comprises three phases: examining the wound metaphor from psychological, philosophical and symbolic perspectives; analyzing how textile-based artistic practices address injury, trauma, repair and bodily memory; and developing and analyzing the five-part textile surface series “Remnants of That Time,” comprising Opening, Deepening, Carrying Wound, Scabbing and Scar. The series is structured as a cyclical progression that visualizes stages of wound formation and transformation. Findings indicate that the wound metaphor provides an effective framework for expressing and interpreting traumatic experience. Textile manipulations including stitching, unpicking, patching, tearing and layering create a powerful visual language for physical and social fractures. The study concludes that the wound metaphor functions as both a thematic framework and a research tool through which material and technique generate conceptual knowledge.