When Vyxsin burst into the public consciousness, as the pink-haired goth contestant on CBS’s reality show The Amazing Race, audiences had never seen anything like her and her partner Kynt Cothran (later Kent Kaliber.) It was unheard-of to see members of our goth community in magazines like People and TV Guide. The duo color-coordinated hot pink and gothic black outfits which really stood out. Fans of the show immediately gravitated towards their fun quirky personalities and dramatic aesthetics, finding their antics and looks memorable and easy to root for. Vyxsin and Kynt did not win The Amazing Race but successfully hit 5th place, so they were on the air for some time, and then invited back for Season 18 to compete in an all stars edition where they also achieved 5th place. Originally from Kentucky, they spent the intervening years between the seasons doing a lot of altmodel work in Los Angeles, so they had tons of outfits to wear from Lip Service, Tripp NYC, Skelanimals, and Hot Topic. Host Phil Keoghan dubbed them “the most fashionable team ever.” Some of the training they did for the physically arduous competition was under the direction of Vyxsin’s father who was an Army artillery officer.
Vyxsin and Kent wrote one of the most popular Gothic Beauty Magazine articles ever when they tackled the topic of how to have a great relationship with your parents while being goth. They also wrote about San Diego Comic Con, A&E’s Billy the Exterminator, and Dark Shadows for the magazine. Vyxsin contributed writing and/or modeling for Gothic Beauty Magazine 25, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 37. Vyxsin modeled styles from Hello Drama, Hot Topic, and more. Photographers Vyxsin collaborated with included Josie Tan, L. Settle, and Bil Brown.
Recently Vyxsin did a fun YouTube show called “Vyxsin With Friends.”
She still keeps a hand in modeling for interest projects, recently sitting for her friend Horror/Gore/Punk/Metal artist Jeff Gaither. She was also thrilled to be chosen for the inspiration for the Star Card for the recent deck Calandra Tarot by her dear friend Michael Calandra. The Star tarot card represents hope, healing, inspiration, and spiritual renewal after a period of turmoil. It signifies a time to find faith, purpose, and inner peace by connecting with one’s true self and trusting the universe’s plan, expressing the balance between conscious and subconscious minds, vulnerability, and divine energy flowing into the world
We are thinking of including one of Vyxsin’s photos with Kent Kaliber, photographed by Bil Brown, in the retrospective calendar currently funding on Kickstarter. If you pledge the Gothic Beauty Kickstarter project, you can help curate which images we publish. I am very excited about getting to interview such icons of our community. Excerpts of this interview series will be included in the Gothic Beauty 25 Year Reunion of Original Artists – Calendar Project, but I wanted to share the full-length interviews as well.
BTS: How did this particular shoot for Gothic Beauty Magazine 25 (and our Times Square billboard!) come together and what was the shoot day like? Anything you’d like to share about the location, how the collaboration went, what it was like working with your collaborators, anything extra you had to do to make the shoot happen?
The Times Square Billboard photo was one of the highlights of my entire career. I actually have an 8×10 of it framed on my wall to this day and my Baby Bat kiddos love seeing Mommy looking like, and I quote, “A Super hero who just got away with murder.” The shoot was actually pretty bare-bones (pun intended!) – Kent and I did our own hair, make-up, and styling and met up with our dear friend Bil Brown at this little tiny private airport in the morning for the shoot. If memory serves? Bil scouted the location. We hopped out of our cars and, *literally* hit the ground running! Much like the graveyard intro for The Amazing Race season 12, also shot in Louisville, KY, we did not *Technically* have permission to be on site! Oh my. In both cases, we were politely asked to vacate the premises, but not before getting some incredible shots!!! Working with those two guys was always such a joy! Bil & Kent are such fearless and creative fellas. We remain dear friends and I consider them both to be soul mates to this day. 
At the time you were first on television, seeing goths represented in mainstream media was incredibly unusual and exciting to see. Did you feel extra pressure knowing how unusual that representation was? How did you end up getting cast? Looking back on it, what are your thoughts on the experience?
Kent and I did feel some extra pressure when we were cast on The Amazing Race (Seasons 12 and 18). At the time? There was very little positive representation of the Goth Scene in mainstream media and we both were extremely intentional about trying to put our best Vinyl-Platformed, Silver-Buckled feet forward. Our generation suffered from hold-over misconceptions from the “Satanic Panic” era and was further harmed by misrepresentation after the tragedy at Columbine. Appearing on that show felt like a bit of a risk on a few levels because it could be read as “selling out” by our Gothic community, but we could also be held up to ridicule and judgement by the mainstream media. Getting cast in the first place was pretty wild because we weren’t from a major American Dark Scene Center like New York or L.A. at the time. I believe that there are a few common misconceptions from outside our scene, including that “Goth was this thing in the 80’s that is dead and there are a handful of social outcasts who cling to the past” and that we are anti-social. At the time we were chosen for the television show, we were living in Louisville, Kentucky. Kent was running multiple successful Goth club nites there and I was sort of the resident Go-Go Dancer and the director and lead performer in our local Award-Winning Performance Art Burlesque show. Most importantly? We also had really good relationships with our sister cities and their scenes. Our unique zip code actually made us seem more “quirky” to the casting team. I can say, from personal experience, and I am certain your readers would agree, that our scene is extremely vibrant, ever evolving, and more widespread than outsiders would think. A good example might be that, among the more unexpected venues I have ever performed at, even included dancing at a Goth Nite, in a cage, suspended on the second story of a bar, with a sawdust floor, in Anchorage, Alaska! Oh my! At the end of the day? Kent and I entered the experience of this, extremely challenging, bizarre, adventure show with the intent to compete at the highest level that we could, given that, unlike some of the other contestants, we were not professional athletes, wealthy well-traveled businessmen, etc. I like to think that we proved that while we were from “The Island of Misfit Toys,” we could still be competitive, and, most importantly, to the viewers at home, we are still human beings. Just like everyone else. Um…except…totally more interesting and just, all around cooler, because, ya know…Goth and all 😉 
Given that your work helped popularize the 2000’s gothic aesthetic, what are your thoughts on the ways the culture and its art/style have evolved, changed, become more accessible? Obviously your work from this time period is iconic, but, from your perspective, where were you at in your career at the time?
My observations about the current, newer generation of Goth folks, is that there seems to be a return to the classic 80’s aesthetic, which is awesome! I can’t really speak to how my personal style influenced much of anyone because I refuse to follow many fashion “rules”. I was even told once that, and, get ready to laugh, “I was not Goth because I did not have black hair.” I do know, from personal comments that I have received over the years that I was one of the first “alternative people” that many young people were allowed to watch on television while appearing on “The Amazing Race,” with their parents, on a family-friendly show, while they were growing up. One of my favorite quotes from a fan of the show, was that, sitting on the carpet watching Kent & I while in high school, he said something along the lines of “Those two people seem so wonderful!” and the response from his mother was, “Well, She looks like the Harlot of Babylon.” That is seconded only by the red carpet response to my outfit by Drag Icon Lady Bunny, “If My Little Pony Was a Stripper.” I take that as high praise. To attempt to answer your question? The Gothic aesthetic is a tapestry, right? It is a blend of so many eras and ideas from Renaissance to Cyber. I tell my *3* children, “A person can be more than one thing at the same time.” Well, so can a scene. This is one of the many things that makes our Culture so beautiful and inspiring and one that I will never grow tired of, even on my 3,973rd birthday!!! 
OK! I think that about does it! I hope I answered your thoughtful questions to your liking. It was an honor to model for you guys and also to write some articles!
Facebook @vysin.fialasavage and @missvyxsin
The Gothic Beauty reunion retrospective Project is on Kickstarter until December 11.
