Resistir Resistir Resistir

"I made a mental striptease based on photos my then boyfriend took of me in 1977. Each of those works is a different interpretation of how to expose yourself: half-hidden behind a crevice duplicated in a mirror, or open like a fan. (I'm simply painting myself standing as well as upside down here, so I won't be distraught by the ambiguity of reality. It's an incantation.)" Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven,1991.

Resistir Resistir Resistir consists of two interconnected wooden door panels that stand two metres tall. Each panel shows a life-size image of a female figure, representing the artist herself. Like many of Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven's (AMVK) works, the figures are based on existing images, in this case photographs taken by her then partner.

Resistir Resistir Resistir is an important work in AMVK's oeuvre and representative of her research into social conventions and the representation and role of women. Using manipulated images, she addresses the objectification of women and the prevailing systems of power. As both the creator and the subject of the work, AMVK retains control and agency over how she is depicted, as opposed to the traditional scheme of male artist and female object. The title of the work flags this resistance.