She Sells Seashells

Gemma curated a group exhibition for Alice Austen House in Staten Island NY, “She Sells Seashells” Exploring Queer Women’s Enduring Relationship with the Seashore, running September 6, 2025–February 21, 2026.

Inspired by the waterside home of pioneering American photographer Alice Austen and her lifelong partner Gertrude Tate, the exhibition brings together 12 contemporary artists to explore the relationship between queer women and the seashore. New, existing, and site-specific works by the artists will be exhibited alongside Austen’s photographs and objects from her extensive shell collection, with pieces displayed throughout the gallery spaces and the historic domestic rooms of the home.

Exhibiting artists include: Alice Austen (1866–1952, New York, US), Ana Benaroya (b.1986, NewYork, US), Lola Flash (b.1959, Montclair, US), Jenna Gribbon (b.1978, Knoxville, US), Meryl Meisler (b.1951, New York, US), Alina Perez (b.1995, Miami, US), Marguerite Piard (b.1996, Rueil-Malmaison, France), Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings (b.1991, Newcastle / London, UK), Nastja Säde Rönkkö (b.1985, Helsinki, Finland), Ro Robertson (b.1984, Sunderland, UK), SHARP (b.1971,Bradford, UK), Alexandria Smith (New York, US).