Biting Into the Acid Pop Tart
Navigate
Continuing her saga of tracking down the infamous and picking their brains, the lovely Scarlett Vaughn, recently to to pick one of the prettiest brains out there. The lovely Athanacia of Acid Pop Tart fame!
RetroKitten: So, What lured you into the lucrative and sometimes seedy world of fetish modeling?
Acid Pop Tart: I started modeling over 12 years ago, I got into it a bit by the back door,heh. I was doing costumes at comic conventions and got noticed by thispublisher who decided I was the living embodiment of his comic book character, Razor, so I ended up being the official cover model. I'd attend the comic shows dressed in character, sign autographs, get my picture takena lot, it was a blast and good money. Then the creator and I had some creative differences, I was creative, he was different, so we split ways. But I had made a lot of friends in the comic industry and I was frequently used as an art model, and would appear on things like the cover of Kabuki. I also had a fan base from being Razor, whatever I did the fans seem to still find me. The internet was a huge boon to the alternative modeling scene and I just started to aggressively promote myself and ended up in early issues of Gothic Beauty, then PM magazine, Too Square (which I also wrote for) and the list goes on. It's definately a seedy world at times, but I don't know about the most lucrative. But I stay in it because it's a way for me to express myself, gives me a chance to be creative since I play photo director a lot.
RetroKitten: Why the name Acid Pop Tart.?
Acid Pop Tart: Well, my first name, Anastasia was becoming commonly mistaken with another model by the same name. I switched to the Greek spelling which is Athanacia, and that ended up with the worst mispronoucations ever. So I decided to return to my old moniker which is Acid PopTart, my old dj name. Way back in '89 I use to dj for WQFS in Greensboro as well as the club, the Miracle House. DJ Acid PopTart was a product of some early morning discussion in the car with my then boyfriend, he had a show in the mornings called Bitter Coffee and I was remarking how I needed something like that. I actually was trying to think of show names, not a dj name. I said, "Another word for bitter, like acid! But what do you think of when you think breakfast? Definately coffee, but you took that. I mean for me, poptarts!" And my boyfriend says, "PopTarts? Acid PopTart? I think you just found your dj name." And the legend was born.
RetroKitten: There is a rumor that you sometimes get on the other side of the camera...Is this true and if so what do you like shooting?
Acid Pop Tart: Ah yes, the rumours are true. I get high remarks when I get behind the camera but I rarely do. I have to be divinely inspired and to be honest, not every model inspires me. I get contacted a lot, but I'm regrettablely very picky. I've also got very set ideas in mind of how I and what I want to shoot; so some of the mundane stuff people want to shoot is a bit boring to me. I don't like to repeat myself. For instance, I've already shot the very lovely Lilith Stabs in one of the local cemeteries; I love the photos, I still think they are some of my best because of the Hammer-esque look they have. But it's doubtful I'll shoot another model in the cemetery unless I can conceive something dramatically different. I want to keep expanding and growing and photography allows me to do that. There's much I still have to learn and I'm slowly teaching myself. I like to shoot things in a darker vein obviously, but I want to stay away from the goth or fetish cliche. I like pairing dichotomies together if I can. I love shooting things that tell a story in one photograph. I love passion and power. I take a lot of inspiration from old movies and photos, everything from the silent films up to even the 70's. From silver screen classics to tawdry sexploitation flicks, I find this kind of power in them that seems to be missing from a lot of stuff I see out there. I like taking a model and shooting her or him in something different than what they've always been photographed in. I've also taken an interest more in social landscaping which is avoiding overly posed models and photographing life in action so to speak. Observing someone in their element and finding the perfect moment to capture. In truth, I need to shoot more. I'm actually going to bump up my shooting this year, fit in more inside my busy schedule. So if any models are out there reading this, contact me!
RetroKitten: Are you afraid of spiders ? (Scarlett deathly afraid of spiders )
Acid Pop Tart: I'm not deathly afraid of them, no. I try not to kill them and just relocate them outside if inside my home. The thing with spiders is I seem to have them follow me. Little white spiders seem to always be where I am, especially on my car for some reason. Of course winter came so I haven't seen them in a while, but I'm thinking spring might bring their return. In a total metaphysical sense, spider as a totem animal implies creativity. Especially writing, which I do a lot of. Spiders were the keeping of tales, hence spinning webs later became spinning tales. They say before there was a language, spiders wrote the history of the world in their webs.
RetroKitten: What do you do when you aren't being the lovely model?
Acid Pop Tart: I try to focus on world domination, but I get so easily distracted. When I'm not modeling, I'm most likely aggressively promoting myself, or my works. I also act, so I spend a lot of time getting ready for my next role. And I write a lot, I write regularly for Gothic Beauty magazine and I write a lot of fiction, so my time is pretty well filled up. Any down time is spent with the love of my life, Damion, who I live with.
RetroKitten: Will you be going to any fetish events this year?
Acid Pop Tart: I just attended Something Wicked This Way Comes (www.swtwc.com) in Atlanta, GA and that was an absolute blast. I met so many incredible photographers and models there. I'm not planning anymore fetish events, per se. I'm attending the Pittsburgh Comicon at the end of April and then Convergence 10 in Chicago, after that I begin filming a vampyre flick and then after that I hope to begin work on one of my own films. If time allows, I'll definately try to fit in more events.
RetroKitten: What has been your favorite shoot so far?
Acid Pop Tart: Oh that's a challenge! By far one of the strangest, spookiest shoots was with Kenya Spears and Rissa Law (photographers) and Chrystyne, the "Disco Bitch", a fellow model. We were in Detroit and shot in this huge, abandoned train station. It had something like 12 floors I think. The main hall was incredible. I love abandoned old buildings, the detoriation, the old architecture, it was gorgeous. But whether or not you believe in anything paranormal, that place was bloody spooky! We had just gotten inside, which was a challenge, and had made it up to the third floor when a horrible storm came out of no where and the wind just ripped through all the broken windows and had such a dramatic effect that we all kind of stood there debating whether to stay or not. We did though, and I shot in this vintage late 18th century gown that was torn to shreds and the shots were gorgeous.
I had another great shoot with Kenya Spears where I worked with John from the band, Liquid6teen. John was a man I had good chemistry with and I felt comfortable enough to let go and have some real fun. That shoot involved blood, rope, guns, knives and an old mattress. We weren't going for glamour, nor were we going for any kind of shock. The blood was really minimal. We were capturing passion. Surprisingly, I caught a lot of shit for that shoot. I was blamed for setting the women's movement back 20 years because there were photos of me being tied up and John is kissing me with blood coming out of my mouth. But the photos told a story. It starts with me tying him up and intergating him, then a struggle and the roles are reversed. In ends up with us on the bed making out. To me it was nothing but pure passion and violence, but to others I guess I had crossed the line. And that made me
happy.
While in Atlanta, I shot with James King at eight in the morning after he kept me out till about two that night. I barely got 5 hours sleep and when I woke up, I was bouncing off the walls. James was one of the few I really connected with. I get along great with a lot of photographers, I feel very sexy with in front of their lens. But occasionally you'll meet someone that you feel "gets it" and James was one of those. Not to mention he has this honeyed Southern accent that touches my little Southern belle heart! With him, I felt completely at ease, and had the freedom to let go. We shot all over my hotel bathroom and the bed and I think they are some of my favorite shots. There's a raw passion in them that speaks volumes. When I said he gets it, I meant he understood the connection between sex and violence, that there you don't need a gallon of blood and a corpse to convey that darkness.
He's one that understands their is a darkness in everyone's psyche. The photos we did show you the bad girl that drinks gin in the morning, showers with a cigarette, and doesn't give a fuck about others' opinions. She exudes sex but with a razorblade edge. She's the dangerous girl you know you should stay away from, but can't help falling in love with.
I've had a lot of incredible shoots, I couldn't narrow down my favorite to just one, but there are three of my favorites.
RetroKitten: Will you be gracing us with your website again any time in the near future?
Acid Pop Tart: Ah, the question of the century. I've been so busy, I've had such little time to update and redesigned. But a wonderful, talented woman has redesigned my site and it's now up to me to get my photos sorted. Problem is, there are so many. But we are closer to the end, and I do hope to have that site up in the next couple of months after I return from traveling and filming.
RetroKitten: Who is your favorite author?
Acid Pop Tart: I can only pick one? Oh my! It's hard to say because when I think authors, I also think what some consider "non-traditional" authors, like comic book writers. Brian Vaughn writes the comic, Runaways and Y the Last Man, and those are two great comics I really enjoy. I think I've loved everything that Neil Gaiman has done. Non fiction the award would have to go to Joseph Campbell who might be most famous for his Power of Myth series. I really enjoy his works.
RetroKitten: How did you hear about retrokitty?
Acid Pop Tart: Wow, how did I hear about it? That's a darn good question! It was years ago and... oh! I remember now! Okay, this is kind of funny. I was thinking of names for a website and doing searches to see if they had been taken. And I thought of "retrokitten" and then I saw the domain was taken so I just had to go see who had this domain and what the site was about and that's how I discovered it! It was quite the happy accident I suppose! Then I actually met Hamil Goode and we had a lot of great laughs together. Not to mention a night out where I had to limp everywhere. ;)
We would like to thank Athanacia for gracing our pages. For more of this lovely and talented woman, be sure to check out her RetroKitten Profile or her profile at One Model Place
You must be at least Silver Member to post comments.
Most Recent Comments - 0 comments total