Before we get onto Miss Beige – tell us a bit about Ana. 

My name is Ana Esmith, I'm an artist and an actress based in Madrid. And I'm in love with a colour now – beige. I'm a performer, and I've got a very bubbly personality. I speak five languages and I trained as a journalist as well. I’m kind of the opposite of Miss Beige – you know, when it comes to her appearance! But the inside is exactly the same. I learn a lot from Miss Beige! Just playing the opposite allows me to discover more about me and others and the world. So it's great, I kind of have a double personality!  

And who exactly is Miss Beige?

She’s that part of yourself you’re not allowed to show. When you see someone with so much freedom, you can’t help but envy that person! But how she does it – you can respond with fear, laughter, admiration; you don’t know how to react! Because she’s fresh and she’s real, in a way. It’s good to realise Miss Beige could in fact be you! Who is stopping you from showing yourself? Who is telling you there’s a certain way to do things? Or to behave? It doesn’t matter where you live or what you do, allow yourself to be yourself – just like Miss Beige. The funnest bit about it all is that it’s a lady in beige, and she’s asking you: do you dare to be beige?

How and when did the character of Miss Beige arise?

I used to live in London, I was there for 15 years and when I moved back to Madrid I started to panic. Because, you know, I have a career and I've come back to my country – but what was I going to do here? I was having one of these artistic crises that we're all so used to. But then I found a dress – the dress – at the flea market in Madrid. And I said to myself – as a task, as a Sunday evening task – why don't you try to do something with this dress and take it somewhere else? 

Originally it was just something for me, really. I came home, and I started to look in my closet for something that could go with it. That evening, I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought – oh my god, that's an image! I really liked it. So I said to myself, let's see how this image works in real life. Because I didn't want to get Miss Beige protected in some special environment. I just wanted to see how people reacted to her. 

And that's how the whole thing started; it was born of one of these crises as an artist. I didn't expect it would go anywhere. I think as a performer you have to keep playing even in your head. I needed to have something in my head; to go into my own fantasy. So really Miss Beige came from the pure necessity to feel creative.

It’s funny how sometimes the best ideas are born from some kind of crisis. You say you wanted to take her somewhere unexpected – where did you take her? Where did you think Miss Beige would be most at home?

Well she feels at home in the streets – that’s her favourite place, because it's where anything can happen – good or bad. And also, you can bump into anybody! You know? It's a democratic place: it belongs to everyone. So that's where she likes to be, that's her favourite place in the world. 

And especially all those places where no one is interested. All these working class neighbourhoods worldwide – we've all got them. They are areas that she feels really at home. Because why are those places not good enough? Who says what places look good? Instagram, for example, is full of... you know... crap! Someone says this is the dinner you have to have, this is the place you have to go, this is the hotel you have to stay. Well – no! The world is much more interesting than that. So let's have a look – let's not just pick such obvious places. Why can't we go beyond? What are we afraid of?

You’re so right. It’s boring, isn’t it?

Yes. And it's exactly the same with human beings, we all show those sides of ourselves where we look good enough according to someone else. And that's the reason we have all these mental health issues – because someone is telling us what to do, what to show, what to wear. The minute you break the rules, everyone gets scared. Oh my god! She's not wearing make up and she's on telly! You know what I mean? It's like – get over it. It's 2023, something should start changing right now – especially for women.

Absolutely. Were there any specific inspirations for the videos you shot for us? Maybe some elements from those streets?

I mean, the washing line is something that is quite Mediterranean. In Southern Europe, it's an image you see here very often. So I wanted to play with an image that’s part of my life, and put it in an artistic video. Seeing all the beige leaning, waiting there to dry, I thought it was a lovely image that's part of my environment. So that's something I see in the streets that I tried to replicate for the video. 

And the one with the dummy, that's the flea market in Madrid. I spend a lot of time there, because I love antiques and I love the atmosphere at these places. And also it's where I found my dress! So really, they’re things that are part of my life. 

Performance art can be really serious, but of course Miss Beige is also very, very funny. I wondered if you see humour as an act of defiance, or as a tool?

For me, humour is something very serious – I take it very seriously! I think it's about time to give humour some status. It's always like – oh, it's a joke, it doesn't mean anything, it's just funny. But why can it not be funny and punchy at the same time? I think humour is an amazing tool, and you're allowed to think and laugh at the same time – so I decided that a serious face could be as funny as a smiling face.

How do you use Miss Beige as a tool? Perhaps as a critique of society?

I trained as a journalist as well, so I'm always very in touch with what’s going on. And I think that's the tool with Miss Beige – it brings my trainings together: journalist plus actress. She's a character, but she's in touch with reality – and she's in touch with what happens every day in the country or the world. 

And she always says, in her way, what she thinks! So she's quite bold, and really brave – she's asking for politicians to resign, and to do the right thing. So she's politically involved, and that's something amazing. 

Because she’s brave, saying and doing what she thinks, I hope that’s some kind of inspiration for people in their daily lives. The message is always 'do you dare to be beige?' And that means 'do you dare to be free?'

In terms of spreading that kind of message, do you have any particularly proud moments?

One of my biggest attempts was in 2020 just before the pandemic. I went to the most important art fair in Madrid – it's famous worldwide, and I decided to go with a recognisable food delivery bag. And to walk in there with that bit of reality into the non-reality world – that image was quite strong. It went viral in Spain, and that's something I'm proud of, because I was criticising the world where I come from. Just for them to think, in that art fair, about what's going on: all this precarity, and how artists pay their bills, how these art fairs are made for very few artists – what's going on?

It appears from the footage you shot for us that Miss Beige is very flexibile. So we wondered if that requires a lot of training? Please advise us of her training regime. 

Well, I think on a daily basis you have to be flexible if you want to live in 2023! So just remind yourself to be flexible every day. Workout on your flexibility! Because it's going to make a better human out of you! And if you can't be as flexible as you want to be, you can fake it. It's fun to play with these cliches of training. So you can do it – just fake it. 

They say that you should never look in a lady's handbag, even if she offers. Why you think that is? Is that because the lady might be carrying a hammer inside? 

As women, we all carry bags – and goodness knows what's in there. Even your partners, even your friends, even your partner – they would be shocked to see some people's bags. So why not? Why not carry a hammer? You never know what's going to happen. So it's always good to be protected when you leave home. 

Carrying a hammer is certainly a bit of a power move, isn't it. 

I think it works! You carry a hammer and you feel in charge of your life. You feel – I'm ready! I'm ready to protect myself! And not to use it – it's just the way it makes you feel. You feel stronger! And I think that's without going to therapy. It's just another way to work on your mental issues!

And even if you're not carrying a real hammer, you can carry that metaphorical hammer with you!

Exactly. It's exactly that. To have it in your head that you can carry things that make you stronger, instead of carrying stuff that makes you heavier – like life is not worth living. Just use inspiration to keep yourself going.