The Abstract Self-Portrait

Video (shown with specific conditions at offline exhibitions)
41:41 min
2018

The Abstract Self-Portrait emphasis on the experience of the (painting) process. Visual artist Daan Roukens portrays in an abstract way what is going on in his head. He continuously experiences a restless feeling as a result of the tension between order and chaos and is always searching for the connection between the two. When he experiences too much chaos, he lets his obsessive perfectionism run free and if that structure becomes too dominant, he will add chaos again. This allows him to connect both and to create a peace of mind, which feels like a sublime experience.

“I feel the strong need to take the viewer into this process in order to experience the same as I do.”

By literally transforming painting Say Yes When You Want To Say No #6 into video and sound, the painting unfolds with each added layer. A color accentuates a tone and no paint implies no sound. With The Abstract Self-Portrait, Roukens creates new gateways through that process into that sublime experience. The video continuously constructs moments of contradictions between process and result, between painting and sound, and between the artist and the viewer.

Say Yes When You Want To Say No #6
Acrylic & oil on linen
110 x 70 cm
2016