POrtals in New York City
Two Whimsical Artists Open a Door
By: Noah Ungvarsky - Oct 08, 2026
Walking through the glass doors felt like entering a slice of heaven. That was the feeling on arriving at the P0rtals gallery at 213 Bowery in lower Manhattan to view the works of two young artists. P0rtals was a 3-day exhibit from 9/25–9/27/2026 organized by Erica Ko.
Micca, a surrealist and fantasy artist, can be found on Instagram with the username @micca or her website www.miccasworld.com. The artist V? can be found on Instagram under @paints.v or her website www.vqpalette.com.
The two bodies of work read well together in the shared space. Transparent curtains fell from the ceiling, each carrying images from one of the artists. See-through colorful tapestries allowed a view of fellow gallery wanderers, and surely they could see. It is a very intimately arranged space.
V?'s works are wondrously whimsical. Many feature soft effusive landscapes with precisely detailed swirling colors. An effusive glow emanates from her pieces, reminiscent of childhood brightness.
Micca's pieces are surrealist dreamscapes. Many consist of a larger world executed with tiny precise brush strokes and hidden messages. It is no wonder she shared that one of her inspirations is Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki.
Both artists generously answered questions about their art, also sharing details about their experiences as Australians visiting NYC for the weekend. The journey, it turns out, took 25 hours.
In conversation with V?, the question arose: Why the name "V?"? What's up with the question mark?
The artist explained she created the tag V? in high school when she began posting her art online. She wanted to keep some anonymity.
She explained further, "and then it morphed into something that became really aligned with how I want my art to be received as well. Because it's kind of open to interpretation, and that there’s no real substantial objective conceptual idea behind each piece, but rather as a whole, it’s interpreting how one feels. So it’s a very personal experience."
V?'s fluid abstract works bring forth memories of childhood finger painting on the inside of a car window. “Halcyon-days” elicits the floral scent of dew drops upon flowers after a springtime shower. Colorful floral strokes, alive with movement, are set against a hazy aquamarine shoreline. A storm appears to be brewing in the distance. Tiny sparkling beads bring a temporal weight to the piece, as if dew drops were frozen and captured in time.
The accompanying artist statement describes the piece as "the kind of paradise we dream of in difficult times–a place that may exist somewhere in the world, but lives most vividly in the imagination."
What do you see, dear reader?
During the conversation, it came up that both Micca and V? share the same personality type: INFP, meaning Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting. What of the time each artist spends working alone? The time spent conversing with their inner voice?
And so Micca was asked to speak to that.
She explained that sometimes her best ideas come when she gets out of her head and has conversations with others. For instance, her most recent work, “Heaven's Playground,” includes a playground from an idea suggested by one of her social media followers.
She also described her internal reflective process: reading old biblical texts that described angels as creatures with multiple heads, eyes, and wings, and then interpreting this idea by creating her own mythical beings.
When asked about her unique painting style and experience with self-portraiture, Micca said, "I don't want to copy something directly. It has to be tweaked, so I feel I've made the decision and not the photo. If I had just painted my face directly, technically the photo is telling me what it looks like, and I don't want to copy it because that's what it says. I want to feel like I did it. I'm at the point where I don't want to paint skin tone. I want to paint a pink person!"
A pink person. What a wonderful idea! Micca's insistence on choice is what stands out. Her voice is strong because she paints from what she imagines, not from the reality in front of her.
One door to “Heaven on Earth” may be closed, but sooner or later, another will appear.