Molung

Molung is a tattoo artist from Mokokchung, Nagaland, whose journey into tattooing grew from a lifelong interest in drawing and a fascination with lettering and black & grey tattooing. Before tattooing, Molung completed a Master’s degree in Geography and worked as an Area Coordinator with NSRLM Nagaland. At the end of 2023, he decided to take tattooing seriously and began teaching himself the craft.

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Without access to an apprenticeship, he built his foundation through drawing, practice skins, fruit, machines, online tutorials, books, YouTube, studying other artists and plenty of trial and error. His first tattoo was a Hawaiian spear tattoo on a friend’s arm, where he began developing his understanding of whip shading. Today, Molung’s strongest visual language is black & grey and lettering. He is particularly drawn to Chicano tattoo culture and the way lettering interacts with the body. His lettering interests include Chicano lettering, calligraphy, graffiti, custom lettering and Old English. A major part of his approach is respect for fundamentals. He considers line control, shading, contrast, composition, skin knowledge, needle selection, machine control, placement, design, letter spacing, consistency and healing to be the structure behind a good tattoo. As his experience developed, his understanding expanded beyond simply making a design look good on paper. He became increasingly focused on body flow, composition, layering and depth — designing with the body rather than treating it simply as a surface. Molung has also explored American traditional and fine-line illustration, while continuing to develop his core practice in black & grey and lettering. His move out of his hometown and into professional tattooing marked an important turning point in his journey. Now based at Inkspace Tattoo Studio in Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi, he is continuing to develop his craft, build his visual language and pursue tattooing as a profession.