Etsuko Tashima made her debut in the 1980s among the “ultra girls,” a group of female artists whose work is characterized by powerful expression unconstrained by the conventional frameworks of art. Her works, comprising shapes symbolizing the female body in powerful primary colors, attracted a great deal of attention.

Beginning in about 1988, organic, undulating forms that looked like plants began to appear in her work. At the same time, the bright and lustrous colors disappeared from her pieces, and she transitioned to creating works with a consciousness of texture, even including the shape of the air that exists around the pieces.

Continuing down this path, from about 1992 Tashima’s works underwent a change, and she produced a series of white pieces covered only in white slip. The encoded forms seem to symbolize the spirituality hidden deep within the heart and evoke a tranquil worldview. Tashima soon arrived at a new form of expression using translucent glass made using a technique called mold casting, in which small pieces of glass are packed into plaster molds and then fired in a kiln. The glass formed in this way is fused to stoneware that has been formed using the tatara slab technique and then glazed and fired, giving the pieces a refined and supple energy.