Cheetah Girl presents new and never-before shown work by London and East Sussex-based artist Mark Corfield-Moore. The exhibition title refers to the historical character of Miss Jenny – an 18^th century cheetah most famously depicted in George Stubbs’ painting A Stag with Two Indians (1765). Given as a diplomatic gift to King George III by the Governor-General of Madras, the cheetah was placed in the menagerie at the Tower of London and renamed ‘Miss Jenny’. This cheetah acts as a reminder of colonial pasts, and reflects Corfield-Moore’s interest in memory and collective history. The artist was drawn to Miss Jenny as a figure who embodies and navigates her place between separate cultures, exploring exoticism and diasporic identities. In Cheetah Girl, two of the artist’s first ever woven works responding to these themes are being shown alongside newly made works expanding on Miss Jenny’s place in history and culture.

Describing himself as a painter whose practice incorporates hand woven textiles, Corfield-Moore employs a method based on the ancient craft of ikat, a technique he learned from local artisans whilst visiting family inNorthern Thailand. Painting directly onto the warp threads before they are woven, Corfield-Moore creates images with a unique glitchiness (what he refers to as a ‘fizzy heat’) which acts as a visual metaphor for the transience of memories and our evolving relationship with the past. For the artist, this mutability is furthered by the grounding idea that fabrics are, in essence, nomadic. This is evident in the historic use of textiles in the production of tents, rugs and clothing – items that are portable and not attached to any specific location.

Mark Corfield-Moore was Born in Bangkok, but brought up for most of his life in the UK. Soon after he first started weaving, Corfield-Moore discovered that his grandmother was also a weaver back in Thailand. His artistic practice can therefore be read through acts of longing and reconnection of heritage.

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