Neuroaesthetic Considerations for Creating Calm Spaces
This guide offers observations on how visual environments interact with the nervous system, with a focus on art, perception, and calm. It does not instruct, prescribe, or replace design or medical expertise.
INTRO:
Neuroaesthetics is an interdisciplinary field that explores how visual experiences are processed by the brain and how they influence perception, emotion, and physiological states. It draws from neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and the arts to better understand why certain visual environments feel activating, grounding, or restorative.
My interest in neuroaesthetics developed alongside my work as a nurse practitioner and my studio practice as an artist. This page offers a brief overview of core neuroaesthetic principles as they relate to visual environments and art, followed by my own perspectives on how these ideas inform the way I make and think about artwork.
This material is educational in nature and reflects observation, research, and personal philosophy rather than instruction or treatment.
This guide offers neuroaesthetic perspectives on calm — how rhythm, color, spacing, and visual complexity can influence the nervous system. It is intended as an educational resource for those interested in creating restorative environments, and to complement the work of designers and architects.
Visual Load & the Nervous System
Research in neuroscience has shown that vision is not passive. The brain is continuously organizing, predicting, and responding to visual input. This means that environments with high visual complexity, contrast, or unpredictability can require more cognitive and physiological effort, even when we are not consciously aware of it.
Neuroaesthetic research suggests that coherence, pattern recognition, and visual continuity tend to reduce cognitive load, while excessive novelty or fragmentation can increase it.
(Referenced broadly in work by Semir Zeki, Anjan Chatterjee, and related visual neuroscience research.)
Rhythm, Repetition & Predictability
The human nervous system is highly sensitive to rhythm, repetition, and pattern. Visual repetition and gradual transitions are processed more efficiently than abrupt changes, allowing the brain to anticipate what comes next.
In neuroaesthetics, this predictability is often associated with feelings of safety, ease, and reduced vigilance. Importantly, repetition does not mean monotony — subtle variation within a stable structure appears to be especially engaging without being overstimulating.
Color & Tonal Range
While color receives a great deal of attention in discussions of aesthetics, research suggests that contrast — particularly sharp contrast — has a stronger impact on arousal and attention than hue itself.
High contrast can be visually stimulating and activating. Lower contrast, mid-tone ranges, and gradual transitions tend to be processed with less physiological demand. This does not imply that one approach is “better,” only that different visual qualities evoke different responses.
Space, Distance & Art Placement
Neuroaesthetic research emphasizes that how an artwork is encountered matters as much as the work itself. Viewing distance, surrounding visual space, and scale all influence how the brain processes an image.
Crowded visual fields require more rapid eye movement and attentional shifts. Allowing space around an artwork can reduce visual competition and support a more sustained, settled viewing experience.
Living With Art Over Time
From my perspective, art is not separate from its environment. It becomes part of a visual system that includes architecture, light, movement, and daily life.
Neuroaesthetics reinforces the idea that environments can either demand attention or support it. My work aims to belong to the latter — not to withdraw completely, but to exist without urgency.
This philosophy stands in contrast to trend-driven or highly performative visual culture. Rather than asking to be constantly noticed, the work is meant to remain available.
How these perspectives inform my work
My approach to creating is not illustrative of neuroscience, nor is it intended to demonstrate scientific concepts. Rather, neuroaesthetic principles offer a framework for understanding why certain visual qualities feel the way they do over time.
In my studio practice, this often translates to:
Emphasis on repetition and rhythm
Subtle variation rather than dramatic contrast
Restrained palettes and tonal continuity
Attention to negative space and visual breathing room
I am less interested in creating immediate impact and more interested in how a piece is lived with — how it feels after prolonged exposure, how the eye returns to it, and how it participates quietly in a space.
In Closing
Neuroaesthetics offers language for something many people already feel intuitively: that visual environments matter. For me, it provides a bridge between clinical understanding, artistic intuition, and the lived experience of spaces.
My work exists within that intersection — informed by research, shaped by observation, and guided by restraint.
Research
The field of neuroaesthetics is evolving. Thinkers and researchers whose work has influenced my understanding include:
Semir Zeki, pioneer of neuroaesthetics and visual neuroscience
Anjan Chatterjee, neurologist and author focusing on aesthetics and the brain
Research in visual perception, attention, and sensory processing within neuroscience and psychology literature
This page does not attempt to summarize or replace that work, but to acknowledge its influence on how I think about art, perception, and calm.
Disclaimer
This guide is educational in nature and is intended to offer general neuroaesthetic perspectives on visual environments. It does not provide medical, psychological, or design advice, and is not a substitute for professional care or the services of licensed interior designers, architects, or other professionals.