Woven from the Port
Rebecca Hooper
June 12-August 30, 2026
Newport Visual Arts Center
Runyan Gallery
Rebecca Hooper (aka “Gypsea Weaver”) transforms maritime materials into stunning, contemporary tapestries.
Opening Reception: Friday, June 12th, 5-7pm
All are welcome; admission is free; light refreshments will be served.
To help ensure an enjoyable experience for all, we kindly encourage guests to consider attending fragrance-free in support of those with allergies and sensitivities.
My work begins at the dock. The retired fishing rope I weave with comes directly from Newport’s commercial fishing fleet – lines that have logged thousands of miles in the Pacific, hauled crab pots, and endured seasons of use before they were no longer viable for the job. This material does not come from beach cleanups. It is redirected from the landfill or donated by local commercial fishers who understand and support this work. That origin matters. The maritime history embedded in these lines is inseparable from the pieces they become.
Woven from the Port grows out of five years of full-time studio work with retired line from the fleet, alongside a background in aquatic biology that continues to shape how I see the ocean and its systems. I am a self-taught weaver with two decades of experience experimenting across materials and techniques. This work pushes beyond traditional scale and context, bringing pictorial weaving into spaces where it can exist within the same coastal environment it represents. The works in this exhibition are constructed from the same rope that once worked these waters, using reclaimed crab rings and steel as both loom and structure.
I think of this work as translation – maritime material rendered into images of the living systems that sustained it. The commercial fishing industry and the marine environment exist in real tension. I do not try to resolve that tension. I hold it, allowing the material, the process, and the finished work to speak for themselves.