It’s kind of dreamy to have your life defined by a childhood in Topanga Canyon, living in a bohemian house with horses and a monkey that you could take to school while wearing a French petticoat and parasol. The utopian enclave up the mountain from the Pacific Ocean was not the only heavenly childhood footprint in Mary’s life. Her mother would take her hitchhiking on a whim all over the world, including Africa, Central America and Russia. “At twelve, I was sticking my thumb out in Botswana looking for a truck to pick us up… and I would find myself on a ferry boat in China playing poker with a bunch of Chinese men,” Mary explains.

Traveling the world on foot at an early age gave birth to a horse champion in grade school, followed by a year in the Peace Corps in Zimbabwe, where Mary lived in a mud hut and taught English. Her spirit was so invested in her students that she shaved her head in order to look more like them. Presently, Mary resides in Williamsburg, where she resembles an indigenous queen in deerskin wraps, leather tassel earrings, animal print chiffon gowns and McQueen’s primitive print leggings. She is the author of the blog Twisted Lamb, which gives a visual voice to her far-reaching global and tribal aesthetic sensibility, and where she taps into nature and its darker realms. Mary is also working on developing an online digital game called World of Darkness, which is related to vampires and where she is the first digital stylist. I can picture her as the central character in her own game, in a Gareth Pugh caped crusader pant, a leather sleeveless jacket with spikes, bone jewelry and a strong belief in the manifestation of your thoughts – the characters will survive the armagemeddon with apocalyptic style.

If you love Mary, you may also like Julie Kauss, Kimi Recor and Fay Leshner.