My Pandemic Story at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

#MYPANDEMICSTORY (commissioned work for the group exhibition), curated by Justin Jennings
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
23 October 2021 - 5 September 2022

#MyPandemicStory was a free exhibition at the Bloor Street entrance of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), with artwork submitted by artists under the age of 18. As the youth expressed their life-changing experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ene Agi’s commissioned illustrations guided visitors through the lively space while connecting the wide-ranging themes of the collection.

Both leading and ending the journey, from either side of the glass window, a comic character peers out to Toronto with their chin on their palms, as their unrestrained thoughts carry their pigtails up and away. Beyond the confines of the window frame, their unruly pandemic hair swirls along the interior walls and pillars of the Crystal, conveying the rollercoaster of emotions that have arisen for children and adults alike during these challenging times, while morphing to the moods of the nearest pieces.

The character in the window is the first artwork to be given this space, marking the effort to bring softness to the angular architecture and new life to the institution.

ACCESS GRANTED

HACKING BLACK FUTURES (group exhibition), co-curated by Andre Baynes and Chiedza Pasipanodya
BAND Gallery
Featured in the 2018 Toronto Offsite Design Festival

Access Granted is an autobiographical comic that follows the anxious thought process of young woman with an invisible disability, who—due to an escalator malfunction on the TTC—must either take up space in the accessible elevator that she does not appear to need or injure herself using the stairs. In order to eliminate the barrier of the words “access denied”, the comic must be viewed through the single available pair of red-lensed glasses. This installation addresses the limitations of current day accessibility design, while helping the viewer to empathize with those who face daily obstacles because infrastructure is not built with them in mind.

GradEx 105 at OCAD University

GRAD EX 105 (Adjusted due to COVID-19 lockdowns),
OCAD University
King St W (and other Toronto locations)
2020 - 2021

First illustration, top left — portrait of Lupita Nyong’o in “Angry” Black Women: Disappointed. View the following link for full illustration thesis project: “Angry” Black Women.

Other Series