Julia Martin is a Denver-based mixed-media artist whose sewn constructions explore memory, family, and complex relationships through the physical act of mending.  Building on her lineage of Southern craftswomen, she works with paper, paint, cloth, and thread to create layered pieces that both honor and unravel inherited skillsets.

Beginning with found or repurposed scraps, Julia cuts, writes, paints, sews, and draws to make small quilt squares and bundled compositions. With an emphasis on raw edges and misbehaving threads, she reveals what is usually hidden: the underside, the labor, and vulnerability in repair. 

Before turning to art full-time, Julia worked in healthcare as a nurse-midwife, which deepened her respect for process, patience, and the unseen layers of human experience. Her work has been recognized with awards, including first place in Paperworks 2024 International Juried Exhibition, second place in the Cold Wax International Juried Exhibition, and the Artmore Prize from the Morgan Adams Foundation’s Artma event in Denver. Through her mixed-media practice, she continues to explore how discarded scraps from daily life can simultaneously act as memorials to the past and markers of transformation.