Dream World

Your invitation into the surreal, the provocative and the otherworldly has arrived. Uncanny Art House’s In Dreams: A David Lynch Tribute Exhibition, open weekends through March 8, welcomes audiences to step inside the world of auteur director David Lynch through the eyes of multi-disciplinary artists from across the nation and region.

“I think he would appreciate a multidisciplinary show, like the one we have,” says Chase Spivey, Uncanny Art House and Uncanny Media Creative Director. “He’s just all about the art life and all about promoting creativity in all forms. I love that he was a filmmaker, photographer, visual artist, musician—and he even liked to cook.” 

As part of this multidisciplinary exhibit, Uncanny Art House presents paintings, ink drawings, textiles, collage, ceramics, mixed-media sculpture, music, video and interactive experiences in its exhibition space on Main Street in downtown Norman. There’s even a lamp that is a miniature recreation of the Black Lodge from “Twin Peaks.”

But, as Spivey explained, the curatorial team at Uncanny Art House didn’t want to mount a pop art exhibit or showcase only pieces that directly reference Lynch’s filmmaking for In Dreams. 

“It was a balance of deciding to have pieces that immediately represent stuff from his own work, but then also pieces that have the same themes or invoke the same kind of feelings that you can get from seeing a David Lynch film or a David Lynch piece,” says Julius, Uncanny Art House Gallery Manager and Multimedia Specialist for Uncanny Media, who served on the curation team for the exhibit. 

“Lynch’s work has had such an impact on so many people that [this exhibit] is just something that needed to happen.”

“In Heaven / Everything is Fine”

The idea for a Lynch exhibit had been circulating the Oklahoma City-Norman art scenes for a few years, even before his passing. After an attempt to mount an exhibit at the 51st Street Speakeasy stalled, the Uncanny Art House team took up the mantle and began brainstorming for the show.

The initial plan for the exhibit was an 80th birthday celebration for Lynch; Spivey was even going to try to contact Lynch about attending or sending a piece. After Lynch’s death—four days before his 79th birthday in January 2025—there were lingering questions about whether they should still do the show. With some time and contemplation, the team decided to shift the exhibit’s focus to be in tribute to Lynch’s legacy. 

When the public open call for artists went out in August of 2025, the team received over 70 submissions for the show and invited many artists to apply, selecting around 42 for exhibition, including “Twin Peaks” actor and award-winning Yaqui artist Michael Horse. 

The resulting exhibit begins with pieces that directly refer to Lynch’s body of work, then moves to a selection of Horse’s paintings, culminating in a section of work that interprets Lynch’s themes more abstractly. Toward the end of the exhibit, two short films screen in the Blue Velvet Theater; a recreation of the Black Lodge serves as a stage and photo op; and audiences are encouraged to experience more of In Dreams via an exclusive online-only exhibit.

An unusual (and surreal) component of In Dreams is the interactive video art installation entitled Through the Rabbit Hole, created by Spivey, Julius, Gallery Facilitator Chris McDaniel and artist Helen Grant. Walking up to the first station, viewers will see a distorted video feed of a set through an ear hole—a nod to Blue Velvet. Then, from the set in the other room, performers can, as Julius explains, “pretend like they’re on a Lynch set” while a stealth camera shows the actors what their audience is doing in reaction to their performance. 

It’s voyeristic invitation to both consume and be the art. 

The Art Life

On Jan. 9, throngs of art fans and Lynch diehards crowded at Uncanny Art House during Norman’s Second Friday Art Walk. As the team reports, the turnout for the show’s opening reception “exceeded every expectation.” During the opening, co-curator and collaborator Brett Fieldcamp played an original Lynch-inspired soundtrack as his one-man act, Meteorology; local brewery Lazy Circles was busy slinging exclusive seltzer for the exhibit. (The flavor of In Dreams? Mulberry, vanilla and sage.)

“This became one of the most well-attended Art Walk events we’ve hosted since opening Uncanny Art House,” says Spivey. “The energy in the space was immediate and sustained throughout the night.”

Through the Rabbit Hole was also a hit on opening night—“one of the most impactful elements of the show”—despite some trepidation and uncertainty about how the audience would react to it. Some of these potential qualms were helped by stationing Julius, Grant and other members of the Uncanny crew to direct and guide participants in performing. 

“Visitors were eager to participate, take direction and fully immerse themselves in the experience,” says Spivey. “The willingness of people to be guided, perform and immerse themselves in the environment echoed the spirit of Lynch’s work and reinforced our belief in interactive installation as a core part of how we program exhibitions.”

Part of that programmatic philosophy includes a focus on continuing educational events. So far, there has been a screening of the documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself, co-presented with the Oklahoma Film Exchange (OFX), and another night of live music—this time a Lynch soundtrack cover show—along with other workshops and events.

Audiences still interested in expanding their perspectives on Lynch can attend the next 4th Friday Film series in partnership with the Pioneer Library system and OFX. For February’s film, Uncanny Art House will screen The Art Life: David Lynch, hosted by OFX at its headquarters on 701 W. Sheridan Ave. in Oklahoma City on Friday, Feb. 27, at 7 PM. This documentary screening also features a panel discussion with two former “Twin Peaks” actors: Horse and Josh Fadem, discussing the artistic process after the film is concluded, moderated by the Uncanny Art House team. 

When asked why the team picked The Art Life over any of Lynch’s narrative features, Spivey said the film “ties it more to his visual arts side” because it focuses on Lynch’s early days as a painter, his burgeoning career and his artistic philosophy.

“One of my takeaways from his philosophy, too; the art life means that everything that you do is kind of art, whether you’re cooking or parenting or fixing your car,” says Spivey. “I think a lot of people don't understand that the difference between work and fun is just your state of mind, whether or not you choose to be fully there and have fun with it. So hopefully, we can inspire some more people to have fun with their lives and create more.”

For the Uncanny Art team, Lynch’s influence has directly helped a generation of artists to get out of their heads and just create.

“He never really shied away from doing interviews or anything like that, and talking about his process,” says Julius. “His core message was ‘Go do it.’ Don’t just sit and think on it. A lot of the things that I’ve done in my artistic career, as well as Chase and so many people that are part of our team, we live that every day. That’s something that I’ve always really appreciated about Lynch, and his method: Just don’t wait.”

The same kind of encouragement that Lynch gave during his life, the Uncanny Art team is now stewarding through exhibits like In Dreams, giving artists a platform for their work and an opportunity to find a community. 

As Lynch himself said: “The art spirit sort of became the art life, and I had this idea that you drink coffee, you smoke cigarettes and you paint, and that’s it.”

In Dreams: A David Lynch Tribute Exhibition is free and open to the public on weekends at 106 E. Main St. in Norman through March 8. For a full calendar of In Dreams-related events, visit uncannyarthouse.com or follow the community art space on Instagram @uncannyarthouse.