Kaori Homma – Ness

Private View August 7

Artist Kaori Homma presents Ness, a striking series created using her signature technique of Fire Etching—Aburidashi, a traditional Japanese method once used in espionage to reveal secret messages written in invisible ink. In Homma’s work, this covert practice becomes a powerful metaphor for uncovering buried narratives.

Inspired by the austere coastal landscapes of Dungeness and Orford Ness, Homma moves beyond the romanticism of desolation to probe the invisible imprints of the past. Her use of flame to burn images into the surface of paper evokes the raw, weathered nature of these places while drawing attention to what lies beneath: memory, absence, and silence.

With Ness, Homma delves into the intangible and the forgotten past. The fire, once a tool of secrecy, now serves as a means to reveal—exposing hidden truths while acknowledging the limits of what can be known. Her work becomes an act of quiet resistance, listening for what history leaves unsaid.

Homma invites viewers to reflect on the echoes embedded in the land, and to consider how the unseen continues to shape our understanding of place and time.

Kaori Homma is originally from Japan and holds a BA in Fine Art from Tokyo University of Art and Design and an MA in Fine Art Sculpture from Chelsea School of Art. She is based in London and her works are in both private and public collections. She has exhibited widely in Japan, the US, Europe and the UK.

Homma is one of the co-founders of Art Action UK, a platform for artists’ creative and critical responses to global crisis. She is also a board member of Morphe Arts, and on the Steering Committee of Art for All at Brockley Open Studios. She teaches at Central Saint Martins and Camberwell Schools of Art.

The show runs from July 28 until mid-September. All works are for sale.

Our opening hours are Monday through to Saturday 10.30–17.00; Sunday 11.00–17.00. Closed Tuesdays.

To see and buy our online selection click here, or email us for details of any works in the show.

Private View on August 7, 17.30–19.30. Please reply to this mailout to confirm attendance.

Kaori Homma will be giving two Fire Etching workshops at John Butterworth’s Studio in Whitstable on Thursday August 7, 10.00–12.00; afternoon session, 14.00–16.00.

Email John to book a place.

Thanks to Sam Grady for the photos.