The intensity of Orji’s knowledge about Igbo traditions fuels and serves as a major influence in the art she creates. Raised in a highly spiritual family and surrounded by intentional Igbo culture, Orji was shocked to discover that the songs, chants, and dances that were a substantive part of her childhood had quickly fallen away. While globalization and modernization continue to influence our consumption tendencies, most especially of art, she understands her work as a lifetime commitment. Through her native doodling and digital art pieces, she exaggerates her characters for effect, to provoke a sense of rootedness in everyone who beholds them.  

While in art school, Orji learned to paint. Motivated by Eziafo Okaro and other uli classicist painters, she was particularly drawn to uli design, the ancient celebrated artform practiced by Igbo women for hundreds of years. According to Professor Kyrdz Ikwuemesi in a 2019 essay, ‘uli is an ideogram that viscerally describes the multifaceted worldview and philosophy of Igbo people using abstract and minimalist wall and body designs.’ He noted that although the designs appear outwardly abstract, they are in fact, directly representational in form.   

This reminded me of my introduction to uli art design in Nollywood films, through depictions of what pre-colonial Igbo life was like. Such films featured mud huts bearing coloured lines and curves as well as the bodies of men and women decorated with uli patterns and shapes interpretative of the immediate environment. According to Paul Basu, a professor of anthropology at Oxford University, as early as the 1900s, uli wall art designs could be found in Agulu, Agukwu Nri, Nibo, Nise, and Amansea. These forms of aesthetics have taken the backseat in Igbo culture or merely become symbolic of what used to be. Although Orji has little experience with the era, she aims to ‘keep the art expressions of ancient Igbo women alive, while also contributing new, modern patterns to the uli design.’ 

Orji also derives a lot of inspiration from research literature and older novels written in Igbo. Titles like Ihe Di N’Igbo (Ejefobiri Somto), Idols or Symbols (Joseph Ezechi), The World of Ogbanje (Chinwe Achebe), and Ojaadili (a play by Odunke artists) are some of her go-to favourites for understanding the human condition from an Igbo perspective. Her creative juices are steeped in the connectedness of words and images, which is critical to helping her visualize accurately. When she hears words like ‘Udo’ or ‘Dike’, an image pops up in her head and with it, she settles to build characters and objects from scratch. For Orji, ‘the title comes before the painting or digital artwork, and every stroke aligns with the title already on ground.’ Moreso, the talented artist is appreciative of Ben Enwonwu, Yusuf Grillo, Aina Onabolu, Bruce Onobrakpeya, and lady potter, Ladi Dosei Kwali. In her words, ‘their works have formed wings with which she can put hers to flight.’