David Lynch made many tremendous works of art over his staggering career. His 2001 film Mulholland Drive is often cited as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. His television series, 1990’s Twin Peaks and 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return has received similarly titanic praise.

Blue Velvet ’s freaky Frank Booth huffing, well, whatever that stuff is, Lost Highway ’s spine-chilling Mystery Man, or Wild at Heart ’s Sailor kung fu-kicking in a snakeskin jacket—Lynch wasn’t trying to be controversial.

In his films, his TV shows, and his paintings, Lynch reminded us that all art gestures toward a world beyond the familiar and comforting.

For me, Lynch is, was, and will always be the mad conductor of the subliminal. I’ll never forget going to see David Lynch’s Blue Velvet at the Nickelodeon in Boston in the Fall of 1986. I had just started my senior year of high school and my interest in movies was just beginning to snowball into a borderline-unhealthy obsession.

Lynch co-wrote and produced some of the music for his films, but he also had an impeccable sense of how to use well-known songs in his movies. He was a master manipulator constantly deploying major hits into unexpected corners of his films,

David Lynch, the legendary American director behind films like Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire and the television series Twin Peaks, passed away on January 15. His family announced the news in a Facebook post the following day: “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us.