Affordable Art in Singapore: Risograph prints from $5 at Knuckles & Notch

A new wave of home-grown art and design stores is bringing creativity to everyday life. In this five-part series, speak to the founders behind these spaces on how they’re making art more accessible, engaging and alive.

“Art is a never-ending conversation”

Founded in 2014 by Djohan Hanapi and Goh Yun Jin, Knuckles & Notch is a risograph publishing and printing studio now based at Waterloo Centre, where it also operates as a shop and gallery.

Risograph printing is a high-speed stencil process that produces bold, textured prints using eco-friendly soy- or rice-based inks. Popular artworks include limited edition prints inspired by Wong Kar Wai’s filmography, priced between $5 and $80. The studio also regularly hosts printmaking workshops for those keen to learn the craft.

“Currently, we have an ongoing print collaboration with artists around the world using a gachapon concept. The artists don’t know their theme until they pull it from our gacha machine – that element of surprise keeps it exciting,” shares Yun Jin.

The latest three prints ($45 each) in this series are by Nadhir Nor (@snadhir), Shu Yee (@shuuhuahua), and Zoey Kim (@zzoeykimm).

“We spun the gacha three times and gave them the resulting themes. Each artist chose one to work with. We provide some constructive feedback to ensure that the artwork is riso-friendly and as delightful as possible, but they’re largely free to interpret the theme however they wish,” she adds.

She adds that the studio is also working on a holiday collaboration with the Asian Civilisations Museum, along with several upcoming exhibitions at their gallery space.

For Yun Jin and Djohan, accessible art means removing preconceived notions of what art “should” be – proving that creativity can come from materials of any value, and that art should be open to everyone, regardless of background.

Below, Yun Jin shares more about what Knuckles & Notch stands for.

Knuckles & Notch began when we were art students, at a time when printing options were limited beyond Sunshine Plaza on Bencoolen Street. Djo and I were deeply immersed in DIY culture and music subcultures, so we started doing a lot of silkscreen printing on our own.

In 2011, we travelled to New York City and discovered printmaking methods we’d never seen before. At the same time, we grew frustrated with how the arts were viewed in Singapore – appreciated, but rarely seen as a viable career.

Those frustrations became our fuel – driving us to create on our own terms. We wanted to build a space that felt honest and human, where we could freely express ourselves, and tell stories through unconventional art forms.

We believe art is a never-ending conversation and nothing should be fixed or permanent. We wanted our space to reflect that, to be a place where stories, ideas and wonders can be explored freely.Another constant challenge has been sustaining ourselves financially.

In the beginning, we went more than a year and a half without taking any salary, as everything we earned went straight back into the business. It was tough, but that period taught us to be resourceful and to stay focused on what mattered most – creating and keeping our space alive.

We hope visitors take a moment to slow down when they enter our space, to pause and truly absorb the art around them. In a world dominated by technology and automation, we want it to serve as a reminder of the physical, human-made processes behind creation – and the beautiful imperfections that come with them.

Knuckles & Notch is at #02-25, 261 Waterloo Street.