Zelfportret 1985 nr. 6 1985

Philip Akkerman made this self-portrait on paper with pen in 1985. The composition is so dense, repetitive, and tight. I can imagine him working intently, his hand moving in small, tight circles, building up the form slowly, carefully. The lines that define his features, the hatching that creates the shadows, are all so deliberate. I wonder what he was thinking as he made it? Was it a form of meditation? A way to understand himself? The little marks float around the head like thoughts, or rain. The curls around the collar, what do they mean? The drawing has an odd, intriguing quality. It makes me think of the obsessive detail and mark-making found in the work of artists like Adolf Wölfli, who made art in psychiatric hospitals. But Akkerman is doing something different. It's as if he's using the act of drawing to explore his own identity, pushing the boundaries of representation, and I love that.