Self-Portraits, 1986 - 1999

Akkerman began making self-portraits in 1981 as a revolt against what he called, 'the fashion-dominated avant-garde art world.' Since then he has painted nothing but his own face, pursuing an almost obsessive search for 'the perfect self-portrait'. This process has been compared to trying to decode a combination lock and Akkerman is aware that this is an endless task. In the past twenty years he has painted around fifteen hundred self-portraits. Akkerman employs a tradition technique of the Old Masters, systematically making a drawing, adding tone and finally colour. This process enables him to experiment with a variety of techniques and styles taken from art history. His work has ranged from more formal, realistic portraits, to images influenced by the French Impressionists. He has also created distorted, haunting portraits inspired by the surrealists. His continual experimentation over many years has seen his techniques grow in parallel with his own ageing process. He has said of his work: In my series of self-portraits the story of life is present twice. In the first place in the picture. You see a head growing older. That goes without saying. But there is another story in which this process of growing older can be seen. And that is the story of technique.