To accompany a short article on the legendary tennis icon and activist Billie Jean King, art director Dian Holton commissioned a mixed-media portrait by New Jersey-based artist Erika Simmons. Beginning with a sketch and a vintage BJK wooden racket  Simmons purchased on eBay, she cut, unwound, and wove the strings to render the face. After a week of manipulating the strings, she debuted the finished artwork — a taut, near-perfect replica of Billie Jean King. Look for the printed piece in the June/July issue of AARP The Magazine.

Photos by Erika Simmons and AARP photo editor, Nicole Crowder