“Lady Gaga ruined my life!” Nyssa Frank giggles one afternoon in the backyard of the gallery and event space she runs in Bushwick called The Living Gallery. “People always say I get my style from Lady Gaga, but I’ve been painting my face and coloring my hair since 2005.”

Thus is the introduction to the kind, quirky and inspiring person that is Nyssa Frank. The type of girl who can pull off doll head lace tops and slashed vintage prom dresses as if she invented the wheel (and she probably did that, too).

Nyssa Frank is the founder of The Living Gallery, which she opened in April 2012 and she has been running all sorts of art, fashion and performance events there ever since. This includes the most recent and ever so thrilling Bushwick Fashion Weekend this past September.