These works reference the Uli design philosophy, a Nigerian design motif that is traditionally drawn on the body. These decorations are made to prepare for important events, such as marriage, funerals or important familial events. Typically, the designs are meant to last around a week, with changes and disappearance allowing for spiritual renewal. In addition, the designs typically reference natural forms such as animal patterns or human bodies. Marcia Kure modernizes this tradition by translating the ephemeral, body-based language of Uli into layered, contemporary compositions on paper and canvas. Through abstraction she extends Uli’s symbolic vocabulary into modern context while preserving its spiritual and organic resonance.

Kure titled her grid works in Bamum (or Shümom), an indigenous African writing system of the Cameroon Grassfields. Invented by King Ibrahim Njoya in 1896, Bamum was a syllabic script used for administrative purposes, documentation, and education. As a result of colonial suppression in the 1930s, it has largely fallen into disuse. These titles provide an additional layer to the work, considering the ways that not only line, but language represents an ever-connected system of power.