Live Painting Performance: Black Light Reactive Love Skull X-Ray Mural at The Hechyeomoyeo Volume 5 Closing Party

Organiser: The Hechyeomoyeo (led by founder Neil Wheelock Deforest Smith aka @thetitleofabook)
Location: Hugs Songwat Coffee Shop, Bangkok, Thailand
Theme: Black light reactive spray paint graffiti mural depicting a skull with a “love” fracture
Dimensions: Approx. 2.5m x 2m
Paint Duration: Approximately 5 hours
Materials: Montana Black INFRA, Montana Gold FLOURO, MTN 94 spray paints, various spray caps
Objective: Deliver a captivating live painting performance; a black light graffiti mural that engages event attendees and leaves a vibrant, glowing, eye-catching artwork to attract customers to Hugs Songwat Coffee Shop.

Read the article below for full story or get in touch now to hire me to paint live at your event!

Live Painting Black Light Neon Graffiti Love Skull Mural

I painted this black light reactive mural live during the closing party of the fifth installment of the massive scale group art exhibition organised by The Hechyeomoyeo (also known as HCMY). The event took place at Hugs Songwat Coffee Shop in Bangkok, Thailand, specifically in Talad Noi, a district renowned for its creative energy and hipster vibe.

Korean-founded, The Hechyeomoyeo is a vibrant international collective of illustrators, painters, mixed media artists, street art muralists, live performers, and other creatives. It functions as a dynamic melting pot of contemporary art and culture. I’ll explain more about the show and its ethos later in this article. For now, I want to focus on the mural I created live during the closing party and the concept behind the artwork.

I love live painting performances; they allow me to showcase my street art and graffiti skills in real-time live context, and is a great way to connect with the audience. It also reminds me of how I first began earning income and gaining exposure as a professional artist painting murals in the London club and rave scene back in the naughties. If you’re interested in hiring an artist for live painting at your event, please check out my live painting services page or send me a message to find out more.

For some context, the closing party marked the final opportunity for visitors to explore the extensive exhibition featuring over 100 artists in the venue’s dedicated art space. It was also a chance to witness a variety of live art happenings and performances, as well as to make meaningful connections and bid farewell to many artists who were returning to Korea and other parts of the world. The show truly represented an international melting pot of creative souls from every corner of the globe.

My mural was painted live outdoors, high above the main area where many performances and activities were happening throughout the day, with the event running from midday through to midnight. Positioned so all attendees could easily see the live painting in progress, I planned the design with a secret element of surprise: as dusk fell, I switched on a black light floodlight to reveal a vibrant neon-glowing mural of an alien skull, measuring approximately 2m by 2m. I carefully timed the unveiling, so the audience remained unaware of the hidden black light surprise until the mural was nearly finished. The black light was only turned on when ambient lighting conditions were perfect to maximise the fluorescent glow and immersive effect. To prepare, I scouted the venue beforehand to understand how it would appear from outside after dark.

The mural depicts an x-ray image of an alien-looking skull with a fracture (or cranial sutures) that form the word “love.” The “o” in “love” is stylised as a red heart shape. Rather than using traditional blue hues, the x-ray effect incorporates bright greens and yellows, colours that glow far more intensely under black light, enhancing the mural’s vibrant, otherworldly feel.

Painting with Black Light: Precision, Planning, and Fluorescent Alchemy

Creating a black light reactive mural isn’t just about choosing neon colours, it’s a highly specialised process that blends technical know-how with live art performance. From selecting the right fluorescent materials to navigating urban ambient lighting, every detail matters. Placement is key: too much streetlight can wash out the glow, and the black light source itself must be positioned to avoid blinding viewers or casting disruptive shadows. Battery-powered floodlights offer flexibility but require careful time management to ensure the final mural has its moment to shine, literally.

With the right conditions, black light transforms invisible pigments into radiant energy, almost like unlocking a hidden layer of reality. It’s not just painting; it’s performance, transformation, and a bit of chemical alchemy.

Want to bring this kind of magic to your next event? I specialise in live black light mural performances that leave a glowing impression, literally and figuratively. Get in touch to find out how we can make it happen.

A Glowing Mural: The Meaning Behind Love Skull

This black light reactive mural is a fusion of technique, timing, and layered symbolism. On the surface, it depicts a stylised x-ray profile of a humanoid/alien skull. The cranial sutures form the word “LOVE”, with the “O” rendered as a bright red heart (the final element to be painted). Using chromadepth principles, red is the most forward and intense colour — intentionally chosen to make love the glowing heart of the piece.

Aliens represent “otherness,” the unknown or unknowable. This fits perfectly with the event’s spirit, where boundaries between artist, artwork, and audience blurred. What might initially feel alien or distant evolves into connection and understanding over time. Beneath surface appearances, the structures that shape us reveal how, despite external differences, we share common experiences and realities within.

Under blacklight, radiant neon hues erupt to reveal a surreal, psychedelic anatomy, an emotional map glowing with intensity after dark.

Alienation and Connection

The alien is a recurring motif in my work, symbolising outsider-ness, being or feeling from elsewhere, fitting for an international gathering of creatives from across the globe. Initially, attendees may feel disconnected or unfamiliar with one another, but through the event’s shared experiences, alienation gives way to connection and love. This transformation is etched deep into the mural and lingers long after the event, embedding memories and emotions into the space and people alike. Language provides a further barrier that is broken down through the visual connections artists share.

The word “LOVE” is not merely painted on the skull; it is embedded within its very structure. This speaks to the shared human condition, that even in the unfamiliar or alien, love is intrinsic. Love may leave scars, but these marks become part of our identity and can also grow where none existed before.

Ephemeral Light and Hidden Messages

Revealing the mural only under blacklight at night was a deliberate choice to create a moment of delayed discovery. Like emotional or interpersonal connection, real understanding often takes time to emerge beneath the surface. The x-ray effect symbolises this deeper insight, uncovering what’s not immediately visible even in the brightest of light and emphasising transparency and inner truth revealed after dark.

The glowing skull’s spectral presence at night speaks to themes of impermanence, transformation, and depth.

Celebration and Goodbye

As the mural was painted live during the closing party of the exhibition, it became a visual metaphor for farewell and memory:

• Bones represent what remains behind.
• Neon glow symbolises the vibrant memories and connections shared.

The Performance Element

Being painted live, the mural is more than a static artwork; it is a shared ritual and transformation. It captures a fleeting moment of intimacy and growth, much like the interactions at the event itself. This live performance turns the mural into a glowing, time-capsule, holding love and fracture, memory and departure, alienation and belonging, only fully visible under the right light or correct perception.

The Evolving Suture of Love: A Living Transformation

The skull’s sutures evolve over the course of the event, from fractured, unresolved lines into the clear and powerful word “LOVE.” This unfolding transformation mirrors the way love is forged through shared time, interaction, and community. It’s not just a static image but a living artifact of connection and growth, etched permanently by the presence and collective energy of the event itself.

It serves as a final love letter to those met and moments experienced, echoing Carl Gustav Jung’s insight: “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” Like this chemical reaction, the skull, the alien core is fundamentally transformed through the collective experience.

This transformation is further amplified by the very medium of the mural: black light paint. At an atomic level, black light emits ultraviolet radiation, which excites the fluorescent pigments in the paint, causing them to emit visible light in a glowing, almost otherworldly way. This chemical and physical interplay becomes a perfect metaphor for transformation itself, unseen forces catalyse a dramatic change in perception, revealing hidden layers and illuminating what was once invisible.

The mural becomes a visual metaphor written in light and time, a story of emergence, connection, and the hidden truths that come to life only under the right conditions. Just as black light activates the pigments, shared human experience activates the capacity for love, revealing that potential encoded deeply within us all, even in forms that seem alien.

Experiential revelation: Love only becomes visible through shared experience and connection.

X-ray as Metaphor for Transparency and Inner Truth

X-rays bypass superficial traits; skin, culture, identity and reveal the core structure that supports us all. In this mural, what holds the alien skull together is love. It’s a powerful statement about true identity lying beneath surface differences, affirming that what truly matters is inner intent: logic, love, and presence.

By exposing the “LOVE” sutures within the alien skull, the mural urges viewers to look beyond appearances and recognise the shared humanity and connection that bind us all.

How I Got Involved with the Hechyeomoyeo

It started with a whisper, someone mentioned a secret showcase happening in Bangkok’s Chinatown. Korean live electronic duo Fat Hamster & KANG New were set to perform, backed by a live street art element. No flyer, no hype, just a time, a place, and a promise of something unusual. Sounded fresh. What I actually encountered, and ended up becoming a part of, blew away every expectation.

I didn’t plan to participate. It just happened.

The live electro duo had finished their set (a secret gig as part of The Hechyeomoyeo live event  happenings), the Korean street artist (Ppangse) had wrapped up their live mural, and some local expat DJs had taken over the decks, weaving obscure acid techno into the space. It wasn’t your usual predictable Bangkok EDM bangers playlist, it was authentic and underground unexpected sonic journey through lesser known squelchy acid techno obscurities, mixed with fine blend.

I spotted a blank stretch of wall. That was all it took.

The smell of fresh paint. The sounds. The energy. Even though I’d been on a long sabbatical from live events, something in me woke up. I asked Ppangse if I could contribute gesturing at the nearby Montana Gold spray cans. She didn’t hesitate: “Go for it.”

So I did.

There was no pressure. No expectation of a masterpiece. I just painted. A rasta-coloured alien head with antennae. A robin perched on top, exhaling a well-deserved heart. Quick, instinctual. A moment of exchange, just as much about the people around me as the mural itself.

What Even Is The Hechyeomoyeo?

As explained to me by the movement’s founder, Hechyeomoyeo (헤쳐모여) a Korean military phrase meaning “break formation and come together” is more than a name; it’s a philosophy. A living, breathing invitation to dissolve boundaries and create something wild, unpredictable, and deeply collaborative.

This fifth volume of The Hechyeomoyeo unfolded in Bangkok’s historic Chinatown, taking over a Japanese-run coffee shop called Hug Songwat. But don’t let the venue’s description fool you, the transformation was total. Three floors became a sensory overload of floor-to-ceiling artwork, live performances, workshops, and spontaneous happenings. It wasn’t just an exhibition; it was an energy exchange. The kind that spills into the street and refuses to be confined.

Organised by the powerhouse Neil Wheelock Deforest Smith (aka thetitleofabook) alongside a core crew of MCs, DJs, curators, and performance artists, HCMY is a roaming multi-sensory experience that’s previously taken root in Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. Each iteration morphs to fit its surroundings, occupying, adapting, and elevating the local creative scene.

Over 100 artists took part in Volume 5 from Thai street art legends like My Name Is BKK, to fine artists like Seedaporn, to first-timers throwing down on a public wall for the very first time. There was no gatekeeping, no hierarchy just a constant swirl of visual, sonic, and social experimentation. A chaos engine with a beating heart.

And it didn’t stop at the walls.

There were workshops, calligraphy demos, experimental performances, open poetry mics (courtesy of Kinetic Poetic Art Acoustic), spontaneous graffiti jams, and full-on outdoor block party vibes spilling into the street. Every day was different. You couldn’t take it all in, I think that was the point (if there even was one to begin with).

The Hechyeomoyeo was alive. Loosely curated. Barely controlled. Just wildly, unrepentantly open. And I loved that about it, how could I not want to take part?

And that openness meant that whether you were a new face or an established name, your contribution mattered just the same. You were welcome to paint, perform, teach, build, or just vibe. That energy? It’s what makes me feel proud to be a creative.

The Skull, the Bird, the Black Light

By the time the closing party came around, I knew I had to bring something different. Everyone else was pushing boundaries, taking creative risks, so I ditched my comfort zone too.

Inspired by SHOK-1’s X-ray graffiti style I painted the black light-reactive mural: a 2.5m x 2m alien skull, X-rayed and cracked.

Under UV light, it radiates, the energy, the intention, the transformation. Like alchemy. The kind that only happens when people gather with no agenda except to create something that didn’t exist before.

It’s that kind of connection that keeps me coming back and proud to say I contributed energies to The Hechyeomoyeo – Thank you all, it was my pleasure, till next time!

Want to Bring This Energy to Your Event?

I specialise in immersive black light and reactive graffiti performance, the kind that turns a blank wall into an experience.

From underground raves to curated art parties, rooftop shows to cultural festivals, I bring:

• Years of hands-on UV reactive mural experience
• Custom lighting setups for optimal visibility and impact
• A spontaneous, crowd-aware approach to painting
• A deep respect for space, vibe, and visual storytelling
• Street art that transforms under black light and stays unforgettable after

Whether you’re planning a high-octane party, an intimate immersive experience, or something completely off-grid, let’s make it electric.

Let’s talk. Send a message and let’s get planning a black light mural for your event.

 

• Black Light Art
• Live Event Art
• Mural artist