UCL ISH welcomes Carolien Coon as Research Assistant (Nanorestart)

Carolien is a Research Assistant working on the Horizon 2020 project: Nanomaterials for the restoration of works of art (Nanorestart).  

She completed her MRes in Heritage Science and is currently pursuing a PhD both within the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology (SEAHA). Her background is in sculpture conservation, with a Fine Art degree from the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa, followed by a BA (Hons) in Conservation at the City and Guilds of London Art School in 2009. Experience in the conservation of contemporary art led to a keen interest the conservation of modern materials and research into plaster casts at the V&A which enabled her to develop an appreciation of the intrinsic values of copies. This fed her interests in the use and care of Rapid Prototypes (RP) in Cultural Heritage.  Carolien’s current project investigates the photostability of polymer-based RP materials to aid in their preventive and interventive conservation. This includes developing a methodology for photostability assessments of RP using Microfadometry and FTIR and evaluating the protective properties of polyfunctional protective systems developed for plastic artefacts during the Nanorestart project.