Julia Gutman is leaning over a life-sized self-portrait, touching its uneven surface. The embroidered work,, will be suspended before a mirror, looking at its reflection, in her upcoming exhibition,Gutman is concentrating on the face, tracing her finger along layers of fabric in cream, brown, caramel and black, beneath rivulets of overlapping stitches that form an eye.
At 31, Gutman, who grew up in Sydney and studied at the University of NSW and Rhode Island School of Art, is an art star. She made history last year whenwas made from a mix of textiles the artist found and embroidery thread. Not only was shebut hers was the first embroidered work to take out the prize.
Detail from Julia Gutman’s work, they are the ones who live their lives not as lives but as examples of life. Images supplied by the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf.“At the same time, I can never see beyond myself,” she says. “No matter how hard I try, I will never understand what it’s like to be you.