Gemma O’Brien on Neuroaesthetics, Flow States, and Trusting Creative Intuition

Brad Frost welcomes Sydney-based artist and designer Gemma O’Brien to Wake Up Excited to discuss her work in murals, lettering, and calligraphy and her recent move to London to study at the intersection of art and neuroscience. Gemma shares what she learned shifting from “thinking like an artist” to “thinking like a scientist,” including the rigor of statistics and research, and describes her flow-state study with artists, where self-reported intuition in the creative process significantly predicted flow even after controlling for expertise. They explore how to foster flow through attention, intrinsic motivation, goals, and challenge-skill balance, plus the healing power of the arts, stepping outside comfort zones, collaboration, and optimism as a learned superpower.