HOPPIS
An immersive, interactive performance experience.
Hoppis is a world of optimism and imagination, where reality and fantasy coexist. It is a place where people can escape from the sounds and pollution of the city and travel to a world filled with beauty and magic. Hoppis is a world of sustainable materials, created from recycled rubber, steel, and organic materials.
Visitors to Hoppis explore six separate habitats, each unique and full of life. The habitats are immersive and interactive, using a variety of materials, sounds, and other sensory elements. The habitats are also designed to show visitors how beauty can be created in a way that reduces the carbon footprint and turns waste into treasure.
One of the key features of Hoppis is the diverse range of creatures that visitors will encounter. There are over twelve different species, including Denzak, Seaffe, Spiderpus, Jellhoom, Tizwick, Tagalong, Owphant, Bunopper, Rawl, and Starcrawler. Each creature is unique and has its own distinct personality, created through a combination of animatronics, costuming, and human performance.
In summary, Hoppis is a world of hope and inspiration, where visitors can escape to a place of beauty and magic, and where creativity, sustainability, and play are at the forefront.
Explore Hoppis at Factory Obscura,
downtown Oklahoma City, October 2023.
HOPPIS CREATURE HABITATS - Concept Sketches by Colt Ferguson
HOPPIS CREATURES & COSTUMES - Concept sketches by Dylan Albertson
PROJECT TEAM
Leslie Hensley (Hoppis Team Director - Oklahoma City, OK) is a multidisciplinary artist who earned her BA in Theatre Performance from Oklahoma City University. Hensley has been a teaching artist in Oklahoma for over 14 years and is currently the visual arts teacher at John Marshall High School. She has been active in the Oklahoma community writing, directing, and producing live stage performances, as well as creating wearable art and unique stage ensembles for local performance-based companies in Oklahoma. Hensley is currently a contributing member for Spark Creative Lab and is the creative force of DTM fashion haus, creating wearable art for touring performers.
WORK SAMPLE #1
Euler’s Identity Collection, 2022, presented at Living Arts Tulsa
WORK SAMPLE #2
Fire spirit - Mags, Oklahoma City, 2022 (created for SPARK Creative Lab)
WORK SAMPLE #3
Flower Bison (Bristol) & Realm protector (Opulantace), 2022
WORK SAMPLE #4
King Of Queen, 2017-2018
King of Queen is a rock musical that follows the journey of a trans man, guided by his guardian angel Freddie Mercury, as he becomes his true self. Through the power of Queen's legendary music, this production promotes trans visibility and gender fluidity while encouraging audiences to have the courage to be themselves. Created by poet Lauren Zuniga and featuring nationally celebrated drag king and trans man Max Warner, the project involves over 20 artists.
WORK SAMPLE #5
Glen Campbell & Country Music Voodoo, 2016
The performance was a tribute show to Glen Campbell, featuring local musicians and large-scale western murals by artist Matty Zoob. The show included guest performances by flutist Boriis Scott, harmonica player Todd Clark, and tap dancer Scott Hines. The performance was also partnered with Socktober to make free sock donations for a local homeless shelter.
Nick Bayer (Hoppis Creature Lead Artist - Piedmont, OK) earned his BFA and M.Ed. from the University of Central Oklahoma and his MFA from Kansas State University. He is currently the Owner and operator of Createco Studios as well as an active practitioner in the arts. Nick works with a wide variety of clients and is always looking for new projects that need creative solutions. His award winning mural work can be seen throughout the walls of the state of Oklahoma.
WORK SAMPLE #6
Family Ties, 2021
Family ties is a multi-media work that tells the story ofcommunity and family, through a tree which represents the community and is made up of thousands of donated fabrics from the community that were made into resin tiles.
WORK SAMPLE #7
Candy Cap Mushrooms, Hard coated EPS Foam, PVC, 2022
Location: Sugar High, Enid, OK
The Sugar High installation in Enid presents a fictional future in which humans only eat sugar-based foods and have been living symbiotically with ants for decades.
Syd Klinge (Hoppis Robotics Lead - Oklahoma City, OK) is a highly skilled Oklahoma-based designer and fabricator with a broad understanding of electronics, mechanics, power systems, and materials. Drawing on years of work doing practical special FX, he has brought many characters to life with the use of RC animatronics, including massive puppet characters for the Beijing Olympics. He has also built a number of large scale interactive sculptures for various festivals around the world, including Coachella, Big Day Out in Australia, and the Electric Daisy Carnival. More recently he has been using his precision fabrication skills to build museum-bound sculptures for several international artists. After studying film production at New York University, he’s worked a variety of jobs in the film industry including camera operator, drone pilot, editor, and actor.
WORK SAMPLE #8
Robotics engineer team for Spectral Motion, creating animatronic snake for Jeff Koons Apollo Kithara (2019-2022), June 21–October 31, 2022.
A team of engineers and artists collaborated to bring Koon's piece to life with animatronic technology.
WORK SAMPLE #9
The Pipes, 2010-2017
I worked with a team of artists to create a unique organ that uses high voltage arcs to climb individual jacob's ladders within the pipes and generate both sound and a visual spectacle. Each note is tuned to a specific pipe and each one has a ton of transformers inside.
George Salisbury (Hoppis Video Lead - Oklahoma City, OK) is a versatile and talented music video director and designer renowned for his visually stunning and imaginative creations. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, he has collaborated with several high-profile artists and bands, including the Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Dr. Dog, JD McPherson, and the legendary BMX rider Mat Hoffman. During his long standing partnership with the Flaming Lips, he directed some of their most striking music videos and crafted visually striking iconic album designs. Salisbury's work is known for its use of vibrant colors, surreal imagery, and fantastical elements that captivate audiences. He has an imaginative vision that sets him apart and has earned him recognition in the music industry and beyond. Salisbury's passion for his craft shines through in every project he tackles, and he continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling.
WORK SAMPLE #10
George Salisbury Compilation Reel: past music videos directed, shot and filmed over the past 3-5 years
Nikolas Thompson (Hoppis Sound Designer - Oklahoma City, OK) is a film composer and music producer based in Oklahoma City. He has released ten albums of original music, performed 300+ shows on three continents, and has composed music for 25+ short films, art projects, commercials, and two feature films. Nikolas graduated with honors from Oklahoma City University with a master's in Music Composition in 2019 and has since has worked with 40+ artists composing, producing, recording and mixing audio projects and music. His ability to combine elements of sound design, orchestral performers, synthesizers, programming, and vocals has culminated in a diverse portfolio ranging from catchy hook orchestra melodies, to indie rock ferociousness, to playful pop, to textural soundscapes and more.
Colt Ferguson (Hoppis Lead Fabricator - Oklahoma City, OK) is a multidisciplinary artist who uses their love of color, textures, and life experiences to further push emotion and contemplation in their works. Colt earned their Bachelor of Arts from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in their hometown, Chickasha, Oklahoma. After completing college in 2020, Colt moved to Oklahoma City to be involved in a greater arts community. Their paintings and other works have been in several local art shows and group showings.
Austin Tatious (Hoppis Lead Fabricator - Oklahoma City, OK) is a multidisciplinary artist hailing from Oklahoma City, working primarily as a professional tattoo artist. Austin has worked with Oklahoma costume and makeup designers creating custom creature, head pieces, and special effects prosthetics for local Oklahoma films. His focus on extensive makeup and performance art has provided the opportunity to share the stage with a multifaceted array of Oklahoma performers and is currently a core member of Oklahoma city’s queer punk variety troupe Bang Bang. A monster kid for life and Halloween enthusiast, Austin brings his passion for the bizarre and fantastical/phantasmagorical to every project he undertakes.
Chase Prouty (Hoppis Lead Fabricator - Oklahoma City, OK) was born and raised in Oklahoma City. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts and Native American Studies from University of Central Oklahoma . He has been recognized as a Warrior of the Plains, earning scholarships through the Comanche Nation. Chase has many years of aerial performance experience, and is the owner and operator of Magic Tree Aerial Arts School. He continues his passion for performance and art as a founding member of Bang Bang, a queer punk variety show.
Artist Jake Harms (Hoppis Lead Fabricator - Oklahoma City, OK) also known as "anatomy" hails from Norman, Oklahoma with mediums in steel, mold making, screen printing, fine canvas art, legal street art, printmaking, warm glass technique, rako ceramics and murals. He is a self-taught artist, focusing on themes of death, life, and the struggles of humanity. His artwork has been seen in ESPN magazine, Plastic mag featuring Miley Cyrus, Hyperallergic, Hi-Fructose and Juxtapoz. Jake toured with The Flaming Lips for 10 years, and spearheaded the Flaming Lips art coalition "Made By Freaks with love," a selective coalition out of Oklahoma bringing one-off sculptures and art for the band to sell on their website and other various platforms. During his time with the band, he served as head grip and art props for music videos. He was also co-founder and curator for the experimental art gallery in Oklahoma known as WOMB gallery. Jake studied art history and philosophy at the University of Central Oklahoma.