How do you dress for a job in a creative environment? Are there any guidelines you use?
"I have no limits. I could walk in with a hat made out of Barbie dolls. In fact, I just asked my mom to send me some of my old Barbie dolls. I need that — the ability to creatively express myself on such a basic level. I play dress-up; I pick out costumes depending on my mood. If you come into the gallery and I look like a gallerina, it’s because I woke up that morning and decided to play that role. I know everyone doesn’t have as much creative freedom — my advice would be to push to the limit. When you start doing outlandish things, people will stare at first, and then they’ll let it go. When I first moved to D.C., I had a very conservative job, so I decided to push gender boundaries. My hair was very short, and I played with masculine-cut clothes with feminine shoes. I’m about Eddie Izzard."

Do you have a style icon you look to for sartorial inspiration?
"My grandmother is my style icon. If she were still with us, I would get her on Advanced Style. She had a pair of earrings to match every outfit. She loved dresses that had pom-poms hanging off of the seam. She had bejeweled cat-eye magnifying glasses with a small handle and tassel that she used to read the phone book; I keep those in my jewelry box. When she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, she began to safety-pin notes to her clothing, listing the date she wore the garment and to what occasion."

What's one thing we'd never see you wearing?
"Once upon a time, I said I’d never wear skinny jeans, and then I decided to never say never again."