Marlene Steyn was born in 1989 in Cape Town, South Africa, where she currently lives and works. Steyn obtained her Master of Fine Art degree in 2014 from the Royal College of Art in London, UK. Her work is included in Phaidon’s prestigious Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art publication in 2017.

Steyn presented a solo booth, Mind Fullness, at The Armory Show in New York, USA with SMAC Gallery. Coinciding with this SMAC Gallery published the first artist monograph on Marlene Steyn. Steyn was selected to be a part of the group exhibition Motherhood: Paradox and Duality curated by Andrea Lewis at the Iziko National Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa, all in 2025.

In 2024, Steyn was the Stellenbosch Woordefees Festival Artist, which awarded her, her first museum exhibition between my i’s : tussen my oë at the Stellenbosch University Museum, in Stellenbosch, South Africa. In the same year Steyn presented a solo booth, I Open Her, at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair with SMAC Gallery, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

In 2023, Steyn presented a solo exhibition, Home Bodies, at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, and group presentations such as X PINK 101 at the X Museum, Beijing, China; NON-PLACES, Powerlong Art Centre, Shanghai; In 2022, Steyn participated in a Body and Thrall, a group exhibition taking place at Rugby Art Gallery & Museum in Rugby, UK, as well as a solo exhibition, YOU-ME-VERSE, at Lychee One in London, UK.

Other recent group exhibitions include: Staycation at Lychee One in London, UK; ‘L’Heure Bleue’ at PLUS-ONE Gallery in Antwerp, Belgium; and SHAPING THINGS: An exploration of clay and ceramics in contemporary South African art practice at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, all in 2020; African Textures at OSART Gallery in Milan, Italy; and arteBOTANICA in collaboration with Viviers Studio at the Nirox Sculpture Park in Krugersdorp, South Africa, both in 2019; Paper Cuts, at the Saatchi Gallery in London UK; Bone Memory at Lychee One in London, UK and Kneadingthetorsomakesabuzz, curated by Karni Barzilay at KAV 16 Gallery in Tel Aviv, Israel, all in 2018; Another Antipodes Inc at PS Art Space in Fremantle, Australia; and All Things Being Equal at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa, both in 2017. In 2019, Steyn presented two solo exhibitions: deep she dive her at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa, and Unbuttoning my belly, at Lychee One in London, UK.

Earlier solo exhibitions include: Shouty Insides at Galerie DYS in Brussels, Belgium (2018); Knot I : I Knot at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa (2017); Your Skin Is Not The Best Hiding Place at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa; and You Can’t Cry When Your Head is Underwater at Lychee One, London, both in 2016; Mad Love at Lychee One in London; as well as The End is Located Underneath Her Third Armpit (if the muscle is flexed) at Commune 1 in Cape Town, South Africa, both in 2015; and How Cannibals Cuddle at Cabin Gallery in London, UK in 2014.

Steyn has participated in numerous art fairs including a solo presentation at Miart in Milan in 2018, as well as group presentations at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, UK; the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa; and FNB Art Joburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Notable collections include; Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), Cape Town, South Africa, X Museum, Beijing, China, Royal College of Art, London, UK, Luo Yi, YIS Foundation, London, UK & Beijing, China and the Missoni Collection, Milan, Italy.