Process

Ink on ceramic, paper or canvas: which surface suits your wall

Jul 23, 2026

Preetie Kohli works on three surfaces at the Tangled Monk studio in Joo Chiat, and the choice is not decorative. Each one takes ink differently, ages differently, and asks for something different from the wall it hangs on.

Ceramic — 18 of the 48 Tangled Monk wall pieces

Raw, unglazed clay. Because it is unglazed it is porous, more like a thick sheet of paper than a bathroom tile, and the ink settles into the surface rather than drying on top. The trade is fragility: no water, no damp cloth, no cleaning products. A dry dust is the whole maintenance routine. Ceramic covers the widest span of the range: 18 pieces from S$295 to S$2,130, a 28 x 28 cm medallion at one end and a 67 x 26 cm panel at the other.

Paper — 25 pieces, the largest group

Handmade and acid-free sheets. Paper gives the finest line of the three, which is why most of the intricate devotional work sits here. It is also the most vulnerable: light and humidity both matter, and in a flat with afternoon sun on one wall, this is the surface to keep off that wall. There are 25 of them, S$650 to S$3,288, in sizes from 27 x 27 cm to 45 x 50 cm.

Canvas — 4 pieces

The rarest and the largest. These are built ink layered on ink, applied directly to the canvas, so the surface keeps a visible texture instead of reading flat the way a print does. All four are part of Riverbed Echoes and priced from S$3,280 to S$5,920 — the work of Tangled Monk Pte. Ltd., which has been drawing this range since 2025. The largest, Song of the Tide, is 78 x 62 cm and was drawn after the Himalayan foothills and the shifting Ganges.

Choosing between them

If you want an original and are buying your first, ceramic at 28 x 28 cm is the obvious start. If you have a wall that needs filling rather than decorating, it is canvas. Paper is the one to pick when you want to stand close and look at line work, and the one to think hardest about where you hang.