Eksteen (also known as XTN) was born at Zastron, South Africa on October 6th, 1973. He studied towards a BA in Fine Arts at the University of Pretoria and UNISA. He spent several years working in related fields from Menswear Designer to various positions in the Interior Decorating and Digital Design Industries. As a Visual Artist Eksteen has been actively working and exhibiting since 1996. Taking part in numerous group and two person exhibitions on an International level. He has reached the finals of prestigious art competitions such as the ABSA Atelier Competition. His work is currently included in several private collections across the world as far afield as Germany, Sweden and the USA. Eksteen’s work can best be described as the study of relationships. This theme often explored by means of opposing energies or elements in his work has been the fundamental conceptual building block for most of his work since the mid 1990’s. Works focus on specific aspects of identity and how juxtaposed philosophies or imagery, can illuminate our understanding of self and how we relate to others and the world. The interplay or relationships between gender and identity, gender and sexuality and the contradictions between the physical and emotional world, has been some of his major fields of exploration.