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Background

Steyn completed an honours degree in Fine Art and Art History at the University of Pretoria (South Africa) in 2006, thereafter working in several arts related fields. In 2008 she moved to Amsterdam to start her Masters degree in Painting conservation, which she finished in 2011. The title of her thesis was:  "Van Gogh’s cobalt blue: Research into the possible causes for trace elements found by means of SEM-EDX in two distinct variants of cobalt aluminate used by Vincent Van Gogh 1886 - 1890." She has been involved in international workshops and projects such as the 2010 Ethnographical Conference (EthCon) held in Helsinki, the conservation of a Chinese room in Royal Palace Oranienbaum (Dessau-Wörlitz, East Germany) and conferences such as the 2011 ICOM-CC held in Lisbon, Portugal. Steyn has a particular interest in paint chemistry and the degradation of nineteenth century pigments and is currently a conservation trainnee at the Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (SRAL).