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A sculptural love letter to Spider-Man

From a distance, "Letter to Peter Parker" may seem relatively simple. But when you get up close, things get interesting. "The text repeats over and over and essentially thanks Peter Parker for all the reasons I used to relate to him as a kid," says Hetain Patel. "He helped make me who I am today.”

“Dear Peter Parker, There are a few things I’d like to thank you for. First and foremost thank you for making a mask to cover your face. Thank you for making a suit to cover every inch of your skin. Because of this, I too can be Spider-Man without having to be the Asian Spider-Man or the Indian Spider-Man.”

We all have heroes to thank. But not many of us go to the lengths taken by artist Hetain Patel (TED Talk: Who am I? Think again) in a new sculpture that took him four months to construct. The piece, “Letter to Peter Parker,” is a life-size Spider-Man — actually a fiberglass cast of Patel — wearing a custom-made suit covered in hand drawn words. Take a closer look at the ultimate homage to a superhero:

See also this timelapse film of the making of “Letter to Peter Parker.”

All images courtesy of Hetain Patel.