This artist turned threats against Caitlyn Jenner into something beautiful
An artist has taken the time to painstakingly track down hundreds of abusive messages targeted at trans former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, but turned them into something much more beautiful.
In 2014, PinkNews reported how Conor Collins, an out Manchester-based artist, re-created hundreds of homophobic Twitter messages about Team GB diver Tom Daley into a striking piece of art designed to raise awareness about homophobic abuse.
Today, he has replicated this powerful message through his re-imagining of Caitlyn Jenner’s iconic Vanity Fair cover.
Image: Conor Collins
After coming out as a trans woman in April of this year, Caitlyn Jenner’s high-profile transition has brought incredible support and recognition for the transgender community, with Jenner herself stating she aimed to bring attention to transgender issues such as gender dysphoria and violence against trans women.
Coming out as trans, however, also resulted in the star receiving a torrent of transphobic abuse, particularly through social media site Twitter.
Having read these hate messages, artist Conor Collins wanted to show his admiration for Jenner, whilst also highlighting the daily persecution many trans people face.
He explained to the Huffington Post: “I admire what Caitlyn has done and how she has used her position and privilege to make a difference. So, naturally like anyone curious, I went on her Twitter to see more and was horrified by some of the comments. When I saw these I wanted to show them because it is a reality of what trans people experience every day.”
The result was this inspirational portrait above, made entirely from hateful Tweets. Public response has been exceptional, with the image of the artwork being retweeted 3,000 times and favourited 5,900 times: congratulations, Conor!
