Archibald Prize-winning artist Del Kathryn Barton lent her creative direction to the extraordinary shoot as the March issue of the magazine paid tribute to Australian artists and the links between art and fashion.

Barton, who has painted portraits of Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, says of choosing Wasikowska for the shoot: “She has quite an amazing balance between being very earthy but otherworldly at the same time.”

In the magazine, Barton says Wasikowska gave them "the most mysterious, beautiful and beguiling face".

It's not difficult to see how the young actress would have been drawn to the shoot, given her own artistic background, raised in Canberra by a photographer mother and art lecturer father and directing her own talents towards photography as well.

Vogue focuses on Wasikowska's roles in her latest films Tracks as real-life adventurer Robyn Davidson and Madame Bovary as Emma Bovary. It also points to her spreading her wings, saying "home has always been her parents' house in Canberra but now she has her own two-bedroom apartment in Sydney".

"It's my first place on my own, so I love it and can't wait to get back and put the final touches to making it my own," she tells the magazine.

The 24-year-old was spotted before Christmas enjoying a break at Bermagui on the South Coast with her boyfriend, actor Jesse Eisenberg.