Slice Ten Lemons
This is a piece of art analysis on Lubaina Himid’s work ‘Slice Ten Lemons’ (2015/2020). Originally submitted to a Tate Collective competition, it’s a 500 word piece describing my approach to navigating the work. Hope you enjoy!
People always say, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’. It’s a widely known positive and transformative attitude adopted by people in order to survive daily life. It’s a romanticised witticism of gratitude and acceptance, often used in the face of adversity. Lubaina Himid has decorated this canvas with lemons, but exactly how many lemons are there in this painting? The title is ‘Slice Ten Lemons’ - but we count 11.
A single lemon has rolled off the canvas, isolated from the rest of the lemon family onto its own micro-canvas. Himid immediately toys with our perception of this work, making us second-guess our own reality. She crafts this satirical accident in order to demand that we look at this painting again. What exactly have we overlooked?
We pay even more attention to the subject – a black woman sitting at a table with a serrated knife in her hand. She’s not focusing on the task of slicing lemons which the title suggests, but instead focuses her gaze out of the window towards the ocean. She looks outwards towards freedom and the promise of a better life, holding hopes and dreams to break the iniquitous system of which she is oppressed by. But she’s consciously aware that survival outside isn’t possible. The dangers of the sea poetically accumulate tears of black sorrow. She is trapped within these walls. She knows she is expected to make her contribution.
We refocus on the serrated knife. The subject holds onto the tool to slice each lemon, but she rests the knife on the table in front of her. We notice that not one lemon has been sliced and all activity has been paused. It’s a moment which captures a triumphant refusal to make lemonade. In this moment of reflection, the subject is claiming ownership by seizing what little freedom she has within the constraints of the walls that surround her.
She is victorious.
Lubaina decorates her subject in honour with three medals – symbolic for bravery, endurance and above all, recognition. She is finally made visible not for her compliant work, but for her fighting spirit and resilience against brutality. Lubaina further emphasises this triumph by crowning her subject with a purple headpiece, evocative of a flimsy paper party hat that you’d find in a Christmas cracker. By comically mocking the subject’s own exploitation, Himid creates a euphoric image which celebrates black women regaining control.
‘Slice Ten Lemons’ pairs both symbolism and satire to shine a light onto the difficult histories of Black Women and their refusal to conform in the face of adversity. Himid’s testament to these narrow victories through the symbolic reign of this Lemon Queen creates a sense of urgency for lasting change, acknowledging that the battle for racial equality is not yet over.
