Fairy-tale lemon 1980

Curator: The dominant yellow of the citrus almost vibrates. Editor: Indeed. The Armenian artist Mariam Aslamazian created "Fairy-tale lemon" in 1980 using oil paints. There's an intentional primitivism here. It’s fascinating to see how folk art traditions blend. Notice the collection of figurines. Curator: I see layers of symbolic echoes. That giant lemon feels less like a fruit and more like a solar emblem, almost a deity sitting atop that stepped base. It dwarfs the toys nearby, dominating their narrative space. I wonder if this speaks to the imposition of cultural forces on the domestic sphere. Editor: I agree. And those toys feel self-consciously “other," placed like curios in a museum display. The muted figure sketched on the red background suggests both the divine and the exotic – lending itself to a post-colonial reading, no? Curator: Exactly! Even the composition steers toward the theatrical. See how the draped textile becomes both stage and framing device. It focuses our attention and makes us complicit as observers of a performance of culture. The objects displayed tell of trade, exchange and sometimes appropriation, suggesting cross-cultural encounter. Editor: Aslamazian lived through a lot of political turbulence. We shouldn’t overlook how even something that looks straightforward could be charged with cultural commentary. Perhaps this staging critiques how certain cultures or communities become reduced to quaint, digestible tropes. Curator: Or it could be a kind of reclamation. Instead of erasing identity within those historical pressures, it emphasizes the value of native stories. In a painting of "things," there are hidden emotional currents that help in resisting homogeneity. The dreamlike lemon looms—both defiant and defiant. Editor: Thank you for sharing those insightful observations. It is truly remarkable how the cultural artifacts we interact with continue to influence and shape us in subtle yet substantial ways. Curator: And in doing so, hopefully we recognize some shared space despite cultural differences.