In Broad Strokes

Where most artists take to the canvas, these savants paint vibrant murals in people's homes, transforming blank walls into botanical and folkloric dreamscapes

If you’ve ever stepped into Grace Espresso along River Valley Road, you may have noticed a distinctive feature at the back of the café: a striking painting of bird of paradise flowers contrasting against the navy-blue walls. The artwork was handpainted in 2021 by Geraldine Toh, the mural artist behind The Ochre Home.

Other significant murals can be spotted at various locations around Singapore, including memorable works by Yip Yew Chong in Chinatown. These murals have become an integral part of Singapore’s urban landscape, but mural artists have also started expanding to other, less public spaces.

Bold and evocative, today we enter the world of residential murals and the artists behind them.

ENCHANTED SCENERY 

A visual artist by training, Toh painted her first mural in her childhood bedroom to the dismay of her mother, who was rather against the idea. It wasn’t until she moved into her own place that she had the opportunity to paint another mural, almost seven years later. As she began sharing her home renovation journey and her mural work on Instagram back in 2019, she quickly drew a following, inspiring other homeowners to request similar murals for their own interiors, too.