What lies beneath?

I'm constantly brought back to process of stitch; the piercing and joining together of materials. The bringing together of surfaces to create texture and marks.
'Surface is often contrasted with what lies beneath or within, in a series of binary oppositions: surface/depth, surface/structure, surface/core. Such contrasts often suggest, at least in everyday language, that the real value or interest lies in the second half of the pairing, not the super-ficial, but the in-depth- but what might we find if we stop at the surface and consider it in material and metaphorical terms?' (Kelley V)
Yes metaphorically the process of stitch  and piercing definitely appropriates much more than the joining together of surfaces; it is a way of leaving a mark, leaving record of the making of something, the conscious awareness and thoughts of the person making the thing. The depth of making and the considered touch of the individuals hand. 
(Adamson, G & Kelley, V, Surface Tensions: Surface, Finish, & the Meaning of Objects, 2013,Manchester University Press)