Zelfportret 2017 nr. 64 2017

Philip Akkerman’s ‘Self-portrait 2017 nr. 64’ is made with watercolor and ink. It's a mesmerizing dance of pale blues and muted browns that teases out a face from fragmented geometry. I wonder about Akkerman and his process. His paintings are like puzzles, always hinting at something just beyond reach. He’s been making self-portraits for years and they're all a bit like this – faces emerging and dissolving, caught between observation and invention. I wonder if he looks in the mirror or if he's just painting from memory? That one stroke of ink near the eye – it’s so simple, yet it gives the whole face a searching, almost melancholy expression. He’s playing with the idea of identity as something constructed, not fixed. It reminds me a bit of Picasso, but with a quieter, more introspective feel. Like all painters, Akkerman is asking: what does it mean to see? What does it mean to be seen?