“I am an artist, and I have the ability and the free will to choose the way the world will envision me."

Cradled by outlandish couture dresses and somewhat guarded by her, now signature, prosthesis, Lady Gaga is ironically laid bare for the May edition of Harpers Bazaar. In a sleek editorial shot by Terry Richardson, the starlet adopts her accustomed, provocative postures; prowling across a piano but, nevertheless, in her daunted gaze, she appears exposed and imperceptibly vulnerable in Terry's magic hands.