The Woman Who Changed Her Brain: How I Left My Learning Disability Behind and Other Stories of Cognitive Transformation

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Tessa MacKay can spend hundreds of hours on a single painting. Her photorealistic work can look almost indistinguishable from a photograph, but for Tessa, that precision became more than technique. It became a way to work with her ADHD, dyslexia, and the way her brain processes the world.

An Australian oil painter diagnosed with inattentive ADHD at 18, Tessa built a career around the kind of detail and focus that once helped her make sense of the world. But success also brought her face-to-face with the art world's complicated relationship with photorealism, forcing her to question how she thought, learned, and defended her own work.

In this episode, Tracy and Tessa talk about what happened when she decided to retrain her brain, why painting could feel easier than everyday life, and how her latest project, Social Realism, turns forgotten Facebook photos into art.

If you have ever wondered how someone can do something extraordinarily difficult while struggling with things that seem simple, this conversation goes there.

Resources:

  • Website: https://www.tessamackay.com
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessamackayart
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-mackay-8a7121289
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tessamackayart
  • Arrowsmith Program:
    https://arrowsmith.ca
    https://thetrailblazersbook.com
  • Trailblazers by Howard Eaton - https://www.amazon.com/Trailblazers-Spearheading-Educational-Australian-Difficulties/dp/1779414250
  • The Woman Who Changed Her Brain by Barbara Arrowsmith-Young - https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Who-Changed-Brain-Transformation/dp/1451607946

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