"Let's Play!" (2022) Painting by Tatiana Mcwethy

“Let’s Play”. An Invitation to Optical Mischief and Imaginative Space

Tatiana McWethy’s painting “Let’s Play” is a clever and compelling exploration of illusion, play, and perception. Seamlessly blending trompe-l’œil techniques with geometric optical art, McWethy constructs a canvas that doesn’t just depict a scene—it dares the viewer to enter it.
The first thing you notice is the card. It’s old, maybe older than it should be. Curled at the corners, stained like it’s seen things. A grinning child in a red bucket waves from the image—she’s mid-laugh, or maybe mid-scream, it’s hard to tell. Below her, in a font that could’ve been printed on a carnival ticket booth just before it burned down, are the words: LET’S PLAY.
And that’s your invitation.
Tatiana McWethy’s painting doesn’t just hang on the wall—it waits. Like a game that’s already started and you’re just now realizing you’re the one being played. The floor stretches out in front of you but it doesn’t sit still. No, Sir. It shudders, twists, pulses with a rhythm that feels almost… alive. The lines bend in ways your eyes weren’t built for, like reality just cracked a grin.

And then there’s the ball. Crimson. Glossy. Floating like it knows something. It shouldn’t be there, but there it is, casting a shadow that suggests weight—but not permanence. Like a memory. Or a ghost.

You start to ask questions: Is the card on the wall or in your head? Did the ball just move? Why does this painted floor feel more real than the one you’re standing on?

That’s the trick McWethy pulls—wait, it’s more than a trick. It’s a trap door in your perception. She marries trompe-l’œil with geometry, she makes space buckle, makes color hum, makes your brain second-guess your eyes.

And once you’ve seen it, you’re already in the game.

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