51. 51AR Ian Brennan (born 1983) The Recliner 2020 Signed Signed, titled and dated on the back Oil on canvas Getekend Getekend, getiteld en gedateerd op de achterkant Olieverf op doek Signed Signed, titled and dated on the back Oil on canvas 80 x 80 cm (31 1/2 x 31 1/2in) Ian Brennan believes he is the only artist who brings his training as a psychotherapist into the depth of his work. "Each piece of my work contains many layers, much like the human psyche. My job as an artist is to explore each layer of my paintings as a part of myself. Only when I make peace with that part of myself can I move onto the next layer of a painting. I can't paint someone's shame without looking at my own shame (...) I don't just paint the human body, I paint the human feelings covered in flesh". There is an engaging open-ended narrative in Brennan's paintings that allows the viewer to be suspended in a dreamlike reality. No defined answers are offered, only the encouragement to enter a world within the piece and explore it with their own sensibility.