“I believe life is a continuum, and that no one really dies, they just drop their physical body and we’ll all meet again, like the song says. It’s sad but it’s not devastating if you think like that. (…) We’re all going to be fine at the end of the story.”
David Lynch (1946–2025) passed away in January 2025, leaving behind a body of work that continues to influence artists, filmmakers, and dreamers worldwide. His approach to storytelling, deeply rooted in intuition and emotion, has shaped generations of creatives. His passing marks the end of an era, but his vision lives on through his art, his words, and the artists he inspired.
The Man, The Myth, The Master of Strange
David Lynch didn’t just make movies. He made experiences. The kind that linger in your brain like a strange dream—half terrifying, half mesmerizing. If you’ve ever watched Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, or Mulholland Drive, you know exactly what we mean.
However, before Lynch was reinventing Hollywood’s idea of storytelling, he was a painter. “All I wanted to be was a painter,” he has said. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where one day he had a thought: What if a painting could move? It was that thought that took him down a rabbit hole, and soon, film became his canvas.
His first feature, Eraserhead (1977), took five years to make. And it was weird—like really weird. Industrial landscapes, deformed babies, unsettling sound design. Critics didn’t know what to do with it. But over time, it became a cult classic, the kind of film that whispers to your subconscious long after you’ve seen it. (Take a look at a full documentary of the making of Eraserhead here).
Then came Blue Velvet (1986), a deep dive into suburban nightmares. Twin Peaks (1990–91, 2017) turned TV into surrealist poetry. Mulholland Drive (2001) made Hollywood feel like a dream gone wrong. Lynch didn’t just break the rules—he created his own universe, a place where mystery and wonder coexist.
Beauty Wrapped in Darkness
An artist of epochal scale, Lynch necessitated a genre of his own: “Lynchian,” a term used to describe his opulent, mysterious, and monstrous yet recognizably human creations. His greatest achievements—Eraserhead (1977), Blue Velvet (1986), Mulholland Drive (2001)—characterized his synthesis of horror, sensuality, and gallows humor.
However, Lynch never explained his films. He believed art was meant to be felt, not solved like a puzzle. He compared his ideas to fish—sometimes they swim up from deep inside, unexpected and strange. His films don’t follow normal logic; they speak to emotions and instincts, like a dream you can’t quite explain but never forget.
His collaboration with composer Angelo Badalamenti further enhanced this effect. The hypnotic, eerie music in Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive acted as an unseen character, heightening the atmosphere of unease and nostalgia. Lynch’s own musical work, such as Crazy Clown Time (2011), reflected this same unsettling dreamscape, filled with distorted vocals and haunting instrumentals.
Fishing for Big Ideas
Where did it all come from?
Stillness. Observation. An open mind.
Lynch practiced Transcendental Meditation every single day.
“If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper,” he said. And he did. His work was a direct portal into the unconscious mind, bringing up things most filmmakers wouldn’t dare touch. (Watch him beautifully explaining TM here).
That’s the real lesson—go deeper. Be still. Listen. The universe has ideas waiting for you, but only if you’re quiet enough to hear them.
The Lynch Starter Pack: What Inspired Him?
Lynch’s artistic practice extended far beyond film. During his lifetime, he was deeply devoted to painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, and photography. His paintings and sculptures, often grotesque reflections of suburban America, were displayed in galleries and gained increasing recognition in later years.
To step into Lynch’s world, here are some elements that ignited his imagination:
Books:
- The Metamorphosis (Kafka),
- Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky),
- The Art Spirit (Robert Henri),
- Catching the Big Fish (his own book on creativity)
- The Name Above The Title (Frank Capra)
- Anonymous Photographs (Robert Flynn Johnson)
- That Motel Weekend (James Donner)
- Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
- The Srimad Devi Bhagavatam
Films:
- Sunset Boulevard (Wilder),
- 8½ (Fellini),
- Persona (Bergman),
- Un Chien Andalou (Buñuel),
- The Wizard of Oz (which he referenced constantly)
Music:
- Angelo Badalamenti’s eerie compositions,
- Abbey Road (The Beatles),
- Roy Orbison’s haunting voice,
- David Bowie’s otherworldly sounds
Art:
- Edward Hopper’s lonely landscapes,
- Francis Bacon’s grotesque portraits,
- René Magritte’s surreal dreamscapes
- Julian Schnabel’s expressive surfaces,
- Anselm Kiefer’s epic textures,
- Edward and Nancy Kienholz’s sculptural narratives,
- Georg Baselitz’s raw, inverted figures,
- Jean Dubuffet’s childlike yet deeply psychological forms
Lynch lived his philosophy. He created from a place beyond logic. It is beautiful to have such humble wisdom, to trust in the unseen, to let creativity flow freely without fear of the unknown. He was also a believer of painting every day. Here’s some of his famous quotes:
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“Negativity is the enemy of creativity.”
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“The more you know, the less you understand.”
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“A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end… but not necessarily in that order.”
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“Desiring an idea is like bait on a hook. You can pull them in. If you catch an idea that you love, that’s a beautiful day, and you write it down. That idea might just be a fragment of the whole, but now you have even more bait. Thinking about that small fragment, that little fish will bring in more. Pretty soon you may have a script.”
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“Keep your eye on the donut, not the hole.”
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“Ideas are like dreams. Sometimes, they make sense only when you stop trying to explain them.”
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“Be true to yourself. Find your own voice and be true to that voice. Never take a bad idea, but never turn down a good idea. And, of course, have final cut.”
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“Be patient. Everything comes in waves.”
The World Is as You Dream It
Lynch didn’t make films you simply watch—he made films that get under your skin, films that change the way you see the world.
That’s why Lynch’s impact extends far beyond cinema. His aesthetic influenced countless filmmakers, from Nicolas Winding Refn to Denis Villeneuve, and his signature style—now termed “Lynchian”—became a shorthand for eerie, offbeat storytelling. Musicians, visual artists, and game developers alike have drawn inspiration from his dreamlike visuals and unsettling sonic landscapes.
His influence on television is particularly profound. Twin Peaks revolutionized serialized storytelling, paving the way for the prestige TV era of today. Without Twin Peaks, there would likely be no The Sopranos, Fargo, or Stranger Things—all of which incorporate Lynchian elements, from non-linear narratives to uncanny characters.
Marc Glimcher, president and CEO of Pace Gallery, has beautifully said:
“Anybody lucky enough to grow up during the prime Lynch years—the ’80s and ’90s—had the architecture of their brain significantly rebuilt by his genius. What an unbelievable loss of a pure creator. He turned insanity into philosophy.”
And here’s the best part: David Lynch’s work isn’t just something to admire. It’s a challenge, a call to create. A reminder that the most interesting things happen when you trust your gut and follow the strange paths in your mind.
Lynch is gone, but his vision, that’s forever.
The world isn’t just as you see it. The world is as you dream it.
