Korona yedatya Frog Crown
Medium
PaintingMaterial
Mixed MediaDescription
In “Korona yedatya / Frog Crown,” Florah Maphosa draws from African lore where the frog is more than a creature of water and earth — it is a messenger of renewal, rain, and ancestral blessing. Across Shona and many other African traditions, frogs appear after the first rains, symbolising fertility, purification, and the rebirth of the land. Here, the frog sits as a crown upon the woman’s divided face, asserting its role as a spiritual catalyst.
The two halves — one purple, one pink — reflect dualities central to African cosmology: night and day, stillness and movement, vulnerability and strength, the seen and the unseen. The woman becomes a living map of these forces, her gaze uniting them rather than choosing between them.
The gold earring evokes traditional adornment tied to lineage and womanhood, grounding the work in cultural heritage. By placing the frog at the center of her consciousness, Maphosa suggests that fertile energy — of mind, body, and spirit — is what harmonises us.Try it!
