Ayrshire artist uses his work to make political statement
A Scottish artist who honed his skills graffitiing walls in the dead of night has been inspired to paint a series of political pieces - due to his dissatisfaction with Facebook.
For the last 15 years Tragic O'Hara has used cans of spray paint to create colorful, psychedelic murals he calls "installations."
But he has recently swapped painting the fun pieces in favour of an all more serious output - after becoming disillusioned whilst on the internet or watching television.
Tragic - real name Steven McIntyre - began painting and playing guitar at the age of 14, quickly becoming engrossed in the world of graffiti.
His art career began as a teenager on the streets of Ardrossan, Ayrshire, sneaking silently along streets and rooftops in the middle of night - avoiding the police - to do what he loved.
He moved on from trying to paint in remote spots without getting spotted by the police and has received countless commissions from friends, relatives, private firms and councils to create his colourful murals.
Historically Tragic's art has included psychedelic caricatures of famous faces, from William Shakespeare and characters from The Simpsons to famous Scots like Rabbie Burns and Billy Connolly.
But the 29-year-old has recently started painting pieces inspired by politics and the world around him.
The pieces - which range from 4ft x 2ft triptychs to A4 and A3 framed illustrations - were done using ink as opposed to Tragic's tried and trusted spray paint.
His new pieces, which lampoon recent high-profile world events like the Ebola outbreak, ISIS attacks and Syrian airstrikes, have titles such as "Selfie Indulgence", "Brown People Seeking Missile" and "No Money in the Cure."
And the collection also includes a portrait of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne - a triptych titled "The Three Stages of Osborne" - which sees the Conservative MP as his normal self, an alien and a skeleton.
Tragic says he was inspired to change his artistic output due to the cynicism he felt after browsing Facebook or watching the news.
He explained: "I get angry whenever I watch the news or spend 10 minutes on Facebook.
"Whether it's the views of some politicians who can seem to switch off their conscious or the jaded views of some selfie obsessed maniac who has a French flag overlap on their profile picture while damning refugees - oblivious of the irony or just ignoring it.
"If I didn't draw what I was thinking I would probably lose the plot and lash out.
"There's a lot going on in the world right now that's sickening, it's not just in Syria.
"In short, it's just not the time to be painting trees."
The married dad-of-one, who has another son on the way, recently hosted an exhibition to showcase his new pieces.
The free exhibition - titled "The Thief" - took place at the Hipshot Theatre, in Ayr from mid-December until last week.
Tragic donated £6,000-worth of mural work to the venue, which is a new community project in Ayr, including paintings of Billy Connolly, Rabbie Burns and William Shakespeare.
Anyone wishing to view Tragic's work or buy one of his paintings can visit his website - www.tragicohara.com - or email him at tragic@tragicohara.com.