WATERFORD CITY AND WATERFORD WALLS

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The Evolving Triptych: Sillyme on Stephen Street

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The Evolving Triptych: Sillyme on Stephen Street

Documenting street art is inherently an exercise in negotiating transience, urban clutter, and fortunate timing. Photographic records from consecutive visits to Stephen Street during the Waterford Walls festival reveal how an entire wall became an evolving, multi-year canvas under the brush of Italian muralist Sillyme (Raffaele Muraca).

In August 2025, my camera captured Sillyme elevated on a stepladder at work on a central panel. On either side were two finished works: to her left, a monochrome figure bearing a banner reading Let Your Heart Blossom; to her right, a sweeping scene showing a child in aviator goggles alongside the colourful phrase Don’t Forget Your Inner Child. That day, she was busy drafting the middle section in striking greyscale—a surreal, whimsical figure riding a snail-like creature with a small birdhouse perched behind. Unfortunately, street-level realities intervened: a parked delivery van obstructed the pavement shortly after, preventing a clear, unobstructed shot of that finished monochrome iteration before the festival drew to a close.

Returning to Stephen Street in August 2026, my intention was to finally record that 2025 central piece cleanly in good daylight. Instead, the yellow ladder was already back in position, and Sillyme was once again on the wall. The monochrome snail was gone, actively being overpainted with an entirely new, brightly coloured work—an anthropomorphic, pink creature sporting green sleeves, topped by her signature aviator-capped protagonist resting beneath a warm yellow solar halo. Both flanking panels from 2025 remained perfectly preserved.

Curious about her timing, I asked when she had started. Her immediate reply was: “A year ago.”

While I initially wondered whether the answer was lost in translation, the wider photographic record confirmed her exact logic. She had not misunderstood at all. To Sillyme, this entire run of masonry is a living continuum rather than a set of disjointed commissions; the new piece was simply the next chapter of a conversation begun twelve months prior.

During our conversation, she was delightful to engage with. When I suggested describing her work as “Urban Expression”, she beamed with genuine delight and remarked that she intended to adopt the phrase. While the finished 2025 monochrome centrepiece may have eluded my lens, the photographic sequence across both years captures something far rarer: the dynamic, living rhythm of a street artist continually reimagining her own urban canvas.

Examples Of Waterford Walls Murals

Waterford Walls 2025 Locations

Ballybeg Park

  • EMIC – 157 Ballybeg Park

Mount Sion Avenue

  • KMG – Swans of Lir (No. 85)
  • MR. BLOB – Mount Sion Avenue

Stephen Street

  • Magda Karol – Stephen Street
  • Nickie Harrington – Stephen Street
  • Gabriela Joyce – Stephen Street

Thomas Street

  • Novice – Thomas Street
  • Omin – Thomas Street
  • PENS – Thomas Street

O’Connell Street

  • Nerone – O’Connell Street

Parnell Street

  • Blu Heron – Parnell Street

The Forum Hub

  • Kohneshia – The Forum Hub

Multi-Site & Citywide Installations

  • Dotmasters – 9 installations across Waterford City
  • Blackdoors – 5 installations across Waterford City

Waterford Walls 2024 (10th Anniversary Highlights)

O’Connell Cultural Quarter (O’Connell St / George’s St / Gladstone St)

  • Aches – Large-scale portrait / chromatic aberration piece (O’Connell St)
  • Curtis Hylton – Flora and fauna mural (Gladstone St)
  • Curtis Hylton & Shane O’Driscoll – Collaborative installation (George’s St)

The Glen / Ballybricken

  • Smug One – Photo-realistic character piece (The Glen)
  • KinMx – Mythological & botanical figure (Ballybricken)

The Apple Market / Railway Square

  • Zurik – Dynamic geometric lettering (Railway Square)
  • Dan Leo – Bold graphic wildlife illustration (Apple Market vicinity)

Millers Marsh / Waterside

  • Kitsune Jolene – Atmospheric portraiture (Waterside car park)
  • French & Mottershead – Site-responsive installation (Millers Marsh)

Waterford Walls 2023 Highlights

New Street / Apple Market

  • Rustam Qbic – Surreal narrative mural (New St Car Park)
  • Juliette Viode – Figurative piece (Apple Market lane)

O’Connell Street & Cultural Quarter

  • Anna Lina – Botanical & nature installation (O’Connell St)
  • Street Art Frankey – Playful micro-installations (Various Cultural Quarter spots)

Stephen Street / Mayor’s Walk

  • Peachzz – Wildlife and floral theme (Mayor’s Walk)
  • Garreth Joyce – Contemporary graphic mural (Stephen St)

The Mall / Waterfront

  • Signs of Power (Amime) – Typographic / lettering mural (The Mall)
  • Taquen – Minimalist nature study (Quayside approaches)

Waterford Walls 2022 Highlights

The Glen & Green Street

  • Mojo – Contemporary portrait (The Glen)
  • Lost Optics – Retro-futuristic abstract patterns (Green St)

Ballybricken

  • Sonny Sundancer – Large-scale endangered wildlife mural (Ballybricken Green)
  • James Earley – Stained-glass inspired abstraction (Bull Post area)

Barrack Street / Mount Sion

  • Mister Copy – Classical figurative study (Barrack St)
  • Shane Sutton – Spacer/astronaut series (Mount Sion area)

City Centre & Quays

  • Dan Kitchener (DANK) – Rainy night urban cityscape (Quayside)
  • Thinker – Abstract graphic mural (The Quay car park wall)
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