Jakinda Boya (b. 1995) is a contemporary painter living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cape Town and was a finalist for the 2026 Blessing Ngobeni Art Prize.Working across oil and acrylic on canvas and paper, Boya’s paintings explore the architecture of masculinity and the emotional structures that shape contemporary life.

His practice is concerned with the tension between outward performance and interior experience, examining how ideas of strength, composure and control become forms of psychological and social construction. Figures, landscapes and everyday spaces become sites where identity is negotiated, exposing moments of vulnerability beneath familiar rituals and gestures.Rather than presenting narrative resolutions, Boya’s paintings occupy states of suspension. Through are strained palette, layered surfaces and a balance between representation and abstraction, he constructs images that invite sustained looking. His work draws on lived experience while engaging broader questions around memory, grief, belonging and the fragile ways individuals navigate relationships with themselves and others.

Originally trained in film, Boya’s understanding of sequencing, atmosphere and image-making informs the structure of his practice. Individual works function as part of a larger visual conversation, where recurring motifs and shifting settings contribute to an evolving body of work. Boya’s work has been exhibited in South Africa and is held in private collections both locally and internationally. He continues to develop a multidisciplinary painting practice that situates intimatehuman experience within wider cultural and social contexts.