Collaboration in project of Dilay Kocogullary “Toward the Healing of Souls” 

In this work, I offer a personal interpretation of the themes explored by Dilay Kocogullary in her project “Toward the Healing of Souls, ” which confronts the murders of women and reflects on the act of commemoration through the process of crocheting.

Craft, as a dimension of the feminist movement, functions as both a social and political statement. It embodies communication, care, and release—key components of healing. The repetitive, meditative gesture of crocheting interrupts the flow of everyday thought, creating space for reflection and emotional restoration.

The handmade process becomes a central metaphor: the hands symbolize women’s portraits, thoughts, and stories. While the connection between craft, hand, and healing may appear direct, the hand also carries a dual meaning—it can heal, but it can also harm. It possesses equal capacity for creation and destruction. Similarly, crocheting may remain a collection of loose threads or transform into an intentional, meaningful object. Each act, like each conflict, contains two sides.

In my interpretation, a red thread traverses the portraits, linking the hands. This thread functions as a symbolic boundary between life and death—a visual and conceptual motif that anchors the work. The color red, often defined as “the color of blood, ” invokes both vitality and loss.

Through these visual and material elements, the work underscores the urgency of addressing femicide while proposing the act of making as a process of healing, remembrance, and collective resilience.