“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.