Enter through the wound.
The work begins in rupture: fractured figures, restless colour, and the private architecture of the psyche.
Studio of Jako Pretorius
Fragments of the human condition.
Mixed media works that hold grief and triumph in the same frame — the fragmented, the faithful, the still-becoming.
Keep moving through the maze
Each canvas holds a projection of psyche in a captured moment.
Embrace awareness
Be aware of your shadows, love them and they will reveal light.
These paintings are my shadows, once enemies, now friends.
Available Originals
Movement is imperative
Scroll through the fragments and let movement lead you to the collection.
The Artist
A vision worth seeing.
Jako Pretorius is a mixed media artist whose paintings explore the intersection of human experience and the fragility of psyche.
Working under the name OKAJ, he comments on the fragility of the human state as part of an endless pursuit of making meaning through art — a quietly growing community of collectors holds his work.
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Available Originals
For private collections.
Seven works currently held in the studio. Each is available for purchase or for private viewing by appointment in Yzerfontein, Cape Town. Inquire for high-resolution images, condition reports, or to arrange a visit.
The day I had a revelation
A meditation on the fragmented nature of being human and the quiet catharsis of finally arriving at an important realisation. The work assembles disparate pieces — colour, mark, gesture — into something that holds together not in spite of its fragmentation, but because of it. Sometimes clarity comes not as a clean answer, but as the moment all the broken parts agree.
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Resurrection
A celebration of victory over death — of the moment when what was buried rises again. Resurrection meditates on the central promise at the heart of the Christian faith: that suffering does not have the final word. The work holds grief and triumph in the same frame, refusing to let one cancel the other.
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The flowers are still there
The result of research undertaken during the artist's final year at the University of South Africa, this painting stands as a reminder that no matter how hard life gets, the flowers are still there — if you look. The fragmented figure, holding a single bloom in an open hand, sits among soft pastels and half-drawn flowers that surround the work like quiet evidence. A study in resilience and the discipline of seeing what remains.
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Faithful & True
This painting encompasses fragments of addiction, grief, sorrow, anger, and mourning — all carried by faith. It is not a complaint or a cry for help; it is vulnerability embodied and reclamation in action. A celebration of faith through struggle and suffering.
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ENDGAME
Part of the Apocalypse Horse series, Endgame meditates on modern existential dread — the slow unraveling of interconnected global systems and the political instability that shadows daily life. The horse, fragmented and adorned with strange offerings, becomes a reluctant witness to a collapsing order. Toy-like forms gather around it, as though play and catastrophe occupy the same room.
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Adam
A contemporary reflection on the dangers of complacency and disobedience. Even as the fate of mankind is forever changed and his world turned upside down, Adam is at ease. The painting holds up an uncomfortable mirror and asks the viewer a question that doesn't let go: what are you at ease with in your life that you know you shouldn't be?
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Synesthesia
A reminiscence of the beauty and movement of music and colour, tapping into multidimensionality to depict the artist's lived experience with synesthesia. The horse — flowering, perched at a piano — becomes the body that music makes when sound and sight refuse to stay separate. Cloud, piano, bloom, and stripe occupy the same scene because, in the artist's experience, they always have.
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The Artist
OKAJ — Jako Pretorius.
Mixed media paintings exploring the intersection of human experience and the fragility of psyche — the shadow corners, the suppressed, the inherited.
Biography
A practice of meaning-making.
Jako Pretorius (b. 1994, South Africa), known professionally as OKAJ, is a mixed media artist based on the West Coast of Cape Town. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Visual Multimedia Arts from the University of South Africa (UNISA, 2025).
His paintings explore the inner architecture of the psyche — the shadow self, the suppressed memory, the inheritance of faith, addiction, trauma and survival.
Artist Statement
My practice explores the intersection of human experience and the fragility of psyche — delving into the relationship between mind, body and soul, often focusing on the shadow aspects of the psyche. My new body of works heavily emphasises cubist-like shapes and fragmented elements, which speak to the colourful and rich diversity of one's psyche.
An inner realm greatly unexplored — unfamiliar in the most familiar ways.
We assume we know ourselves, yet there are parts of ourselves that we actively avoid — corners within our psyche that contain memories we don't want to remember, things we regret saying or doing, faces of people we once loved and lost.
The psyche, and your shadow self — the self that feels the weight of your suppressed memories and emotions — play active roles in our behaviour towards the world outside of us.
These artworks celebrate the psyche, and serve as commentary on my lived experience with faith, addiction, trauma, and victory.
Education
Formal training.
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2025
BA Visual Multimedia Arts
Curriculum Vitæ
Exhibition history.
- UNDERCURRENTS 2026
- Comic Con 2026
- Selected Work 2026
- Members Exhibition 2026
- Shadows Of Self 2025
- Pop-Up Solo 2025
- Ont[BLOOT] 2025
- Art10K Auction 2025
- Yzerfontein Art Route Expo 2025
- Selected Works on Display 2025
- Selected Works on Display 2025
- Logitech International — Commercial 2025
- Comic Con Cape Town 2025
- REVE(!)ATION 2024
- The Flowers are Still There 2024
- On Growth 2024
- Herman Van Nazareth Open House 2024
- Emerging Artist's Program 2024
- Selected Works on Display 2024
- December Art Expo 2024
- Members Exhibition 2024
- December Expo 2023
- Yzerfontein Art Route 2023
- Evening Open Air 2022
- Yzerfontein Art Collective — Launch 2022
- Yzerfontein Art Route 2021
- Yzerfontein Art Route 2021
- Humanity 2019
Get in Touch
In conversation.
For inquiries about available works, commissions, exhibitions, or to arrange a studio visit — please reach out directly. Most messages receive a reply within two days.
Studio
Yzerfontein
West Coast, Cape Town
South Africa
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Available Originals
Inquire about a specific painting, request a condition report, or arrange a private viewing in the studio.
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Bespoke Works
Commissions are accepted on a limited basis. Share your vision, timeline, and intended space — let's begin a conversation.
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Galleries & Press
Curators, gallerists, and press are welcome to reach out regarding upcoming projects, features, or representation.
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