Tania Stupnikova
Let’s Play
Acrylic on canvas
40×40 cm
2025
Košice, Slovakia
Price: 224 EUR
Every game begins with laughter. But not every game ends that way.
The first steps feel light, the kind a child takes without fear. Then the weight begins. Choices arrive, and each one leaves a mark. The ground itself starts keeping score.
They said it was only a game. But games remember. And this one never ends.
The message does not change. Neither does the price.
Here, rules are not written down. They arrive in bills to pay, in doors that close, in sudden silences at night. You learn them too late, often by losing. And every loss costs more than toys.
Still, there is no retreat. Once you step inside, you are already playing.
So you walk. You stumble. You carry scars that no one claps for. And those who remain learn to fight for small victories, stubborn enough to survive.
You cannot leave the game. But you can endure it. You can even win a place inside it—stronger, sharper, more alive than before.
And if you last long enough, you will understand the truth:
What began as play was only the mask.