The textures of life

Words by Hannah Tapping | Images By Philly Stokes

From fashion buyer to ocean artist, Gemma Lessinger’s journey is one that weaves memory and the sea.

For as long as Gemma can remember, the ocean has been her haven. She grew up in the city, far from the shore, but every holiday would escape to the coast: “Those weeks by the water became the moments I lived for,” Gemma tells me, “grounding, freeing and impossible to forget. The sea has always been my anchor, a place where I could breathe deeply and reset. What I didn’t know then was how profoundly it would shape my creative journey. My career began not with paintbrushes and canvas, but in the fast-paced world of fashion, where I spent 20 years curating collections, developing products and predicting trends for global retailers. Ten of those years were in the surf industry, working directly with the very culture and lifestyle that had always been so close to my heart.”

Those years taught Gemma more than just business, they shaped her eye for texture, her appreciation for materials and her obsession with detail. They also revealed, in hindsight, a thread that would eventually weave itself into her art: “My fashion career was all about storytelling through fabric; how a cut, a texture, or a print could capture a mood, a lifestyle, a sense of belonging. Now, in the studio, that instinct translates into something more tactile: textured seascapes built from fabrics, offcuts and found materials that carry stories of their own.”

When the world slowed down during the pandemic, Gemma reconnected with painting, something that had always been a passion. “Very quickly, I found myself reaching not just for paint, but for materials that surrounded me. I used offcuts of surfboard fibreglass from a local shaper friend, and more recently denim worn soft by years of use, fragments of vintage tablecloths, even recycled swimwear fabric that once belonged to local makers. These pieces, layered into my work, echo the ebb and flow of the sea. The more I experiment, the more I realise that I’m not simply painting seascapes but building them, piece by piece, from the textures of everyday life.”

“What surprised me most was how naturally my fashion background began to bleed into this process. Working with fabric felt instinctive. I knew how denim would behave under pressure, how cotton might absorb pigment, how synthetic fibres could be manipulated to mimic the shimmer of water. My canvases evolved into multi-dimensional pieces that people can’t resist leaning in to touch.”

And it didn’t stop with canvas. The surf industry had been such a defining part of Gemma’s career that when she first experimented with painting directly onto a surfboard, it felt like coming full circle. These boards, often retired from the water, became sculptures of memory and connection, transformed into art that honours their past life while offering a new one. “Repurposing surfboards has since become one of the most meaningful aspects of my practice. They allow me to merge my two worlds: the insider knowledge of surf culture from my buying days with my artistic drive to capture the sea in new forms.”

“There’s something poetic about a surfboard that has ridden waves becoming a canvas for the ocean itself. For the people who commission them, these boards become keepsakes of a life lived close to the water. One couple asked me to create a surfboard piece to celebrate their wedding vows exchanged on the shoreline, incorporating fabric from the bride’s dress into the texture. Another collector commissioned a board to mark years of surfing holidays with their children, embedding fragments from those trips.”

The idea of memory is what drives Gemma most. Many of her clients don’t live by the sea, but carry it with them in their hearts. “My role is to capture that feeling and bring it into their homes. Sometimes that’s through a large canvas that recreates the horizon of their favourite Cornish beach; sometimes it’s through clothing. Painting onto denim jackets or jeans has become a way for me to merge my two worlds again.”

“Each piece I create is deeply personal. The materials are often sentimental, be that a favourite shirt, a scrap of fabric from a child’s blanket, or sand gathered from a beach where memories were made. It’s this element of repurposing that makes the work unique. Nothing is wasted; instead, materials are reborn, carrying the past into something new. Sustainability isn’t a headline for me, it’s an undercurrent that flows naturally through my practice.”

Exhibiting across Cornwall and beyond, from intimate coastal galleries to international art fairs, has brought Gemma into conversation with people who connect to the sea in countless different ways. “Today, my work continues to evolve. From large-scale commissions and repurposed surfboards, to collaborations with brands and makers who share my values, I’m constantly exploring new ways to connect people with the ocean. The sea has always been my sanctuary; through art, it’s also become my language.”

gemmalessinger.com