Anita Baume

Born in Milan, Italy, May 7, 1999.

Before we started our interview, Anita seemed nervous, more fidgety than she usually is. Even though her and I are good friends, even though we've seen one another in some of the most intimate contexts while living together and learning about one another. She knew that the attention would be on herself, on her answers. "These are dense questions, honey," she said to me (in a British accent). But I hadn't given her any of my prompts ahead of time, just told her the general topic of the project. She got serious for a second and told me, "These have a lot to do with mental health and just how I view myself as a person," something that really seemed to scare her.

She did open up though, and I watched her discover more about herself as she did––something I wonder if she had taken time to do on her own before we sat down on the grass that afternoon.

Anita and her grandmother.

I chose to cut out my voice from this interview specifically because I wanted to let Anita's voice take over. The way she was processing her words and thoughts, and almost working through her own internal questions felt like this was much more than an interview, manifesting itself as her own journey to explore her identity.

"I think a lot of people around me associate me more with Italy than I associate myself with Italy."

Throughout the interview, I watched her play with her ear and rub her neck, even more than she typically does, as she was talking through her answers, trying to reach them through her words and hoping to come to that answer. I'm not sure if she realized, but I wasn't expecting her to give me one definitive answer for each, because identity can never simply be reduced to one definitive aspect of a person.

Anita and her mother.

She spoke a lot about her mother, her strongest connection back to Italy. She seemed inspired by the Italian confidence she's carried and the ways that she grounds Anita during moments where all she can seem to do is play with her ear or rub her neck out of anxiety. Her mother is where her home lies, and where her culture and sense of self best align.

Anita is still growing into her identity, embracing how multifaceted it truly is. She's a New Yorker, an Italian, an artist, and so much more. I hope that having this time to just speak, to air those thoughts that may not come out frequently (if at all), was able to help her appreciate her complexity and allow her to take ownership of it, instead of letting labels and others around her define who she is.