Even the young Mr Lynch felt he needed permission to be an artist. This is yours.

David Lynch had so much wisdom and empathy to share about creativity and life that it’s no surprise his recent passing led to an outpouring of admiration and love not just for his body of work but also for him as an artist and as a human being.

Whether he was talking about creative ideas being like fish (“We don’t really create an idea. We just catch them, like fish. No chef ever takes credit for making the fish”) or debunking the myth of the tortured artist (“You don’t have to suffer to show suffering”), the filmmaker and artist constantly exuded wonder and joy at both the world around him and the thrill of living “the art life”.

Of all the inspiring and fascinating video clips, stories and anecdotes that were being shared about Lynch following his death, one clip in particular, from a 2019 interview he did with Artforum, hit me. Because in it, Lynch describes the exact moment, aged around 14-15, that he realised he was allowed to be an artist:

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