As art becomes increasingly digital over the years, it’s important to look back and honour its roots. Be it book covers or painted figurines, handcrafted works always carry a sense of individuality and authenticity that allows for enduring appeal.
The Portals Experience, marking the first-ever unveiling of a private collection, invites visitors to step into an immersive showcase centred on fantasy, sci-fi, and tabletop gaming art. Held at Fever Exhibition Hall in Singapore, the three-month event features over 300 original illustrations and 10,000 books and miniatures across eight different realms, with a library of original book cover art – comprising physical oil, acrylic, and gouache canvases – serving as its heart.
The 1,207-square-metre space starts past a Back to the Future display case, with a walk down memory lane celebrating the different eras of storytelling. Among the highlighted works are Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem, Sue-Lynn Tan’s Daughter of the Moon Goddess, various The Witcher, Wicked, and Dune media, Brandon Sanderson’s novels, Isaac Asimov’s The Edge of Tomorrow, Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, as well as The Walking Dead comic series, R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, and even a World of Warcraft statue and Magic: The Gathering cards. On the right, past issues of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction form a display wall, dating back to the very first issue published in 1949.
The retrospective exploration extends into the next zone, The Realm of Legends. Focusing on Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Ancient Greece, the British Isles, South Asia, Ireland, and Scandinavia, it brings an introduction to genre-defining literary classics, including The Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and The Outlands of the Marsh, alongside paintings and diorama setups of familiar mythical beings, such as Zeus and Medusa from Greek mythology, and Quetzalcoatl from Mesoamerican culture. King Arthur’s signature sword Excalibur protrudes from a rocky outcrop decoration, accompanied by two centrepieces: a massive diorama depicting the lost city of Atlantis and an illustrated world map reimagining places from history, created by acclaimed cartographer Francesca Baerald (Dungeons & Dragons, Game of Thrones).
Moving on to The Realm of Worldbuilders, visitors can look forward to a robust collection featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs, who brought the characters Tarzan and John Carter to life; The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien; Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian); Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness); Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time); Frank Herbert (Dune); Stephen R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant); Michael Moorcock, creator of Elric of Melniboné; David Gemmell (Legend); Terry Pratchett (Discworld); George R.R. Martin, of Game of Thrones fame; and Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern). Look closely, and you may spot cover art from alternative editions, much like the Chinese-language version of The Lord of the Rings.
The third area is where the fantasy genre takes flight. A map, assembled with hexagonal pieces, sits on the ceiling, while a sprawling army of hand-painted figures – both big and small – and a castle setpiece lie behind a decorative wall. Elsewhere, a tower model sprouts from the pages of a book, leading into a corridor of fame that spotlights select authors (Elizabeth A. Lynn, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Kate Eliot, David B. Cole, L. Sprague de Champ, and Scott Lynch) and artists (Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, Bob Haberfield, and Geoff Taylor). The remaining space is split between different fantasy archetypes, such as noble knights, heroines, villains, dragons, antiheroes, and more, with paintings portraying the Wild Hunt, from The Witcher 3 video game, Éowyn and the Pale King (or the Lord of the Nazgûl), and Elric sitting on a throne, coming in as a treat for the eyes.
Tabletop gaming gets its own dedicated section, too. Boasting a D20, or 20-sided dice, installation, it pays tribute to the universes of Dungeons & Dragons, White Dwarf, Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, and other trading card games (TCG) or role-playing titles through a legion of miniatures, detailed sketches, and a full look at various card illustrations.
A personal standout, The Archive presents a stylish intersection of giant, floating hoops, where rows of comic books and novels line their rims. The mirrored surface accentuates the mind-bending effect, evoking a futuristic image that segues perfectly into the sci-fi realm.
Greeting visitors at its entrance is an impressive collection of spacecraft from Star Trek and Star Wars, as well as miniatures themed after Alien. Similar to the fantasy-themed zone, a corridor celebrates the works of David Wingrove, best known for the Chung Kuo novels, David Bischoff (the Aliens and Star Trek: The Next Generation novelisations), Samuel R Delany (Babel-17), Poul Anderson (The Broken Sword), and Charles Sheffield (Georgia on My Mind). Following a handcrafted Warhammer 40K setpiece, the area branches into a showcase dedicated to space and Mars exploration, complete with illustrations commissioned by NASA in the 1970s, and genre archetypes like cyberpunk worlds, interstellar heroes, retro-cosmic futures, mechanical minds, and more. Whovians, in particular, will be happy to check out the cover art of the Doctor Who books.
The final realm, designed with dystopian futures in mind, turns up the wow factor. A sprawling, intricate diorama serves as its centrepiece, depicting a four-way battle between miniature troops – some of whose colours are modelled after real-world countries – and a crumbling fortress, which reveals a library interior. At the end of the road is an activity zone, where visitors can let their creativity run wild to create their own masterpiece, and a curated list of reading recommendations from the National Library Board.
No journey is complete without a merchandise store, however. Alongside the exclusive “Future Singapore: 2126” series by Singapore-based illustrator Kristal Melson, The Portal Experience offers prints, custom country maps styled in the fantasy aesthetic, t-shirts, plush keychains, notebooks, and more for purchase.
The Portal Experience will run at Fever Exhibition Hall, 25 Scotts Road, from 1 June to 2 September, with pricing details as follows:
- Children (4-12): S$17 to S$20
- Adult (13+): S$26 to S$30
- Seniors / Students: S$22 to S$26
- VIP: S$40 (includes open-entry, skip-the-queue access, and an exclusive goodie bag)
- Collectors Ultra-VIP: S$58 (includes open-entry, skip-the-queue access, and an authentic art print signed by the artist)
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
