LONDON -- Conor Collins is no stranger to hateful comments. He's not afraid to hit back either.
The artist has made a name for himself over the past few years by creating portraits of LGBT celebrities out of the vitriol they've received.
A piece of Tom Daley, comprised of homophobic tweets sent to the diver after he came out, and another of Caitlyn Jenner, constructed of death threats and nasty messages, both went viral, prompting much praise but a good deal of abuse.
My portrait of @CaitlynJenner made using the death threats and hate tweets she received after coming out #CaitlynJenner #Jenner #art #transgender #transphobia #wordart #twitter #picoftheday A photo posted by Conor Collins (@conartworks) on Aug 18, 2015 at 11:23am PDT
When Collins received one particularly inept letter -- riddled with spelling mistakes and calling him "immoral and corrupt" -- after he shared his Caitlyn piece, he decided to mark the sender's work, before posting the result on Twitter.
Was just going to bin this, but decided to give my first postal hate mail some friendly feedback. Overall D- pic.twitter.com/bo0L7YNSmM— Conor Collins (@conartworks) October 1, 2015
Collins told the Gay Times he was "baffled" by the note at first, but then was "oddly happy."
"I can’t remember who it was who said it but I was told that the more hate messages you are getting, the more likely you are doing something that is making change," he said.
He told Mashable he hasn't heard from the person behind the letter since his response, and actually nearly forgot about it until it started getting traction on Twitter. "I only shared it in the first place because if I just binned it no-one would believe how ridiculous it was," he said. "I think it's folded up and in the back pocket of a pair of jeans now. Might glue it onto a canvas sometime to prime my next piece. Who knows."
Collins said that the Caitlyn image only took a few days to create, with the bulk of the work done between 5 p.m. on a Friday and sunrise the next day.
He told Gay Times he does receive a "spike" in hate tweets after a painting goes viral.
My finished portrait of @tomdaley1994 made out of the homophobic tweets sent to him when he came out as in a relationship with a man #art #arty #tomdaley #tomdaley1994 #diver #olympics #gay #gallery #homophobia #workofart #wordpainting #uk #greatbritain #unionjack #image #instaart #instagood #instagramart #painting #portrait #picoftheday #canvas A photo posted by Conor Collins (@conartworks) on Apr 17, 2014 at 10:13am PDT
His next work is a portrait made using the blood of nurses and doctors donated to him, in reference to current rules banning gay men from giving blood within 12 months of having sexual contact with another man.
"It should look pretty awesome when it's finished," he told Mashable, "but I am pretty squeamish, so it's a nightmare to do."