Sobremesa with Hiller Goodspeed
A special interview with the one and only Vancouver-based artist and illustrator
Sobremesa is an interview series featuring some of the most creative people across different industries. Each conversation explores the stories, creative processes, and perspectives that inform the artist’s work.
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An Interview with Hiller Goodspeed
The first time I saw Hiller’s work in the real world was last year at a local exhibition at the Yaletown Roundhouse Community Center. It was a sticky summer evening when I set out for my regular walk around the seawall. Instead of following my usual circuit, I made a last-minute detour to take a peek inside the center.
There it was: a wall covered in mini sculptures, collage, and the well-known charming illustrations. It was very stimulating, and it left me curious to learn more about the creator of all the curiosities behind the glass. Exactly a year later, in a similar serendipitous moment, I met Hiller at Zine Harvest and asked him to be a guest for Sobremesa. I am so happy he said yes.
Meet our guest 🧃
My name is Hiller Goodspeed. I am an American-Canadian artist and illustrator. I live in Vancouver, BC. I like to make, but what I make is always changing. I like to self-publish and do a lot of that. Mostly that, I would say. I am a generally creative person. I am still learning a lot, every day.
Describe your art for people who may not be familiar with it
My art is light and has a particular brevity to it. I was drawing a lot for a time, quick drawings that captured a feeling. I think most fans of my work think of these drawings when they think of my work.
In the last 7-8 years I have continued to draw, but also have worked on a number of personal projects that encompass a range of materials and subject matters. I incorporate my surroundings into my art, the things I see and hear and experience. Some have said there is a poetic quality in the things that I make. I let my creative compulsions guide me to the point where it has become difficult to succinctly describe what it is I do. I have a network of projects I can pick up or put down, depending on what I feel like working on.
I read online that you work as a librarian, along with making art. How do you think working in a library influences your creative work?
I do work in a library. I really enjoy it. On the first day of library school they tell you not to work in a library just because you love books. I actually think it is the best reason to work in a library. Working in a quiet, calm environment is a nice fit for me and allows me to exist in a tranquil state which is good for my mind and creative practice. I love facilitating the transfer of information.
You’ve self-published a lot of books and zines. You've inspired me to create and publish my first one this Spring!
Can you share some of the biggest lessons from your self-publishing journey?
That is very cool that you have published a zine. We need more zines, always. If everyone made a zine about something important to them, the world would be a resoundingly better place. I remember learning what a zine was, and what self-publishing was, and immediately thinking "yes, this is something I need to do". My first zine was called "Moon Soup" and was a collection of collages and art pieces that I made, bound with a machine we had in the design studio at the school I went to. I made 22 copies and gave them to my friends. I didn't know anything about zines when I made it.
“If everyone made a zine about something important to them, the world would be a resoundingly better place.”
To learn how to self-publish you have to throw yourself into it. It's intense at first, like any creative endeavour, but once you understand what you are doing, it becomes more enjoyable. There are countless guides and tutorials out there if you're unsure of where to start. I made a video called "Let's Make a Book Together" for VanCAF last year. The important part is getting yourself jazzed up to the point where you have to self-publish or you will burst into flames. There is no wrong way to do it, just go for it and see what happens.
I picked up a copy of Thought World at Zine Harvest and read the whole thing in one sitting at the Second Beach pool in Stanley Park. Something about it made me feel hopeful. Like we’re all just having a similar human experience, figuring things out.
What motivated you to create your own digital archive and what have you learned along the way?
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Thought World! I make a lot of things, and I don't always get to find out what people think of them. Which is mysterious and cool, but it is nice when someone tells me they liked something I made.
In 2023, I decided to make my own social media website, Thought World, just for me. It's kind of like a diary? A quiet corner of the internet where I can go. Maybe it's a blog, actually. It was a great idea, and a freeing experience. It brings me the kind of comfort that is hard to come by on the internet. I published year one as a celebration of itself. I plan to publish years 2 and 3 as a single volume this winter. It is all online for free, too.
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I used to think that in order to be an artist, you had to go to art school, have the best supplies, or create a certain kind of work. But seeing your art in person last year really sparked something in me. I was like, "Oh, this artist made this mini sculpture out of clay, but also makes zines, and drawings, and poems! They seem to be having a lot of fun with it."
Do you have any guiding principles when it comes to making art? How do you decide what to make, given that you are interested in so many different things?
I struggle with this as well. I always thought I had to wait for things to happen for other things to happen, and that everything was preceded by a mountain of prerequisites and requirements. I've learned that none of that is true. No one knows what they're doing initially, but they do it anyway. And then they do it again, because why not?
I try not to think about anything other than the task at hand when I am working. If you enjoy what you are doing, and you do it for yourself, it will be imbued with an unmistakable you-ness. The people you love will listen to your EP or taste your bruschetta or look over your garden and will know that no one else could have done it that way but you.
Ideas for what to make come and go, seemingly from the ether. I have found that I do have to direct my consciousness to a certain mental space to wait for ideas to appear, like finding a good fishing spot. If I hang out there for a bit, eventually something might happen.
We’re living through hard times, and many of us feel lonely. It can take time to find a sense of community or to feel like you truly belong, especially in big cities. How did you go about building your own community, and what advice would you give to someone trying to do the same in their city?
This is a tough one. I'm a quiet person and it takes me a long time to make friends. I have also made some big moves in my life so have had to start over a few times. What has been working for me lately is willing things into existence. If I think about the community I would like to find, then I attend a show or write a postcard or send a text.
These singular actions will eventually strengthen burgeoning friendships and have a positive effect on my life. It doesn't happen at once but it will happen and it will make a difference.
Offline / Online sources of inspiration
I like to ride my bike, and walk around my neighbourhood. I assign myself missions that encourage exploration of unknown spaces. I love going to the Denman Place Mall to be inspired. I love spending time in grocery stores and wandering through alleys looking for weird, discarded stuff.
I live close to Stanley Park and have spent a lot of time in the forest just "taking it in". I take photos of everything I find interesting and constantly go back to reference things I have encountered.
Walking from Britannia Community Centre to downtown Vancouver (over the Militant Mothers of Raymur overpass) is incredibly inspiring to me.
I watch a lot of YouTube videos of people who walk around and talk about stuff. People who do tour-type videos, or even just riff their way through Greenwich Village or an abandoned factory. A couple years ago, I discovered Otis Gibbs and would watch a 45-minute video of his without even thinking about it. I love information in all its forms, and YouTube is full of people who know things and want to tell you about them.
I just started reading The Brothers Karamazov, which is okay so far.
I also recently read the first two issues of Bugue Magazine, by Liana Jegers (published by Caboose Books in Los Angeles). Bugue is great if you are into bugs, and are interested in the flora and fauna of your backyard.
I have been listening to Mope Grooves' Joy, which is a perfect album.
Explore more of Hiller’s work at hillergoodspeed.ca
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