Microsoft Word - Jaime Coolabah Toshi


Coolabah, Vol.2, 2009, ISSN 1988-5946 Observatori: Centre d’Estudis Australians, 

Australian Studies Centre, Universitat de Barcelona 

 

 

7 

 

Toshie Itabashi  

 
Tokyo, 1974  

She now lives in Barcelona. 

 

She has held Three Solo Exhibitions in Barcelona 

 

Her work has been shown in group exhibitions in Spain and Portugal: 

She has won several national prizes and her work has been bought by important private 

collectors in Spain. 

 
 

Mermaids  

 

“Mermaids” is the title of one of the series which the Japanese sculptor Toshie Itabashi 

has been working on over the last few years. 

 

The harmonic mixture contained in the stone forms invites the contemplation of the 

hypnotic miasmas which submerge us in something which seems like the very beginning 

of time itself. 

With the appropriation of the mermaid, perceived as a mythical being - but without any 

ideological or cultural constraints, the artist doesn’t try to scare or blind us. At least, 

no more than we already are. Rather, she tries to seduce us. 

 
As with the dissipation of liquids, the essence of each statue is contained within the 

boundaries of the figure and contaminates the space which surrounds it, expanding and 

contracting in a fluctuating manner.