re(f)use Art Exhibition

Inspiration can come from anywhere. For Amanda Cerini, senior studio art major, her passion began in line at a grocery store.

"I remember being with my mother and her explaining to me that she always either brought her own bags or asked for paper to transport our groceries home because 'plastic is threatening to kill our oceans,'" said Cerini.

Today, Cerini uses her artwork to bring awareness of environmental issues, specifically the overwhelming amount of plastic polluting the planet, to her audience. Her current exhibit, re(f)use at DU's 023 Gallery, focuses on plastic waste.

"re(f)use is my attempt to bring viewer's attention to the amount of plastic waste a single person might contribute in one year from everyday products they might otherwise overlook," she said.

To prepare for this project, Cerini tracked her usage of six plastic items over the course of a year. She would reuse plastic containers when she could, and at the end of the year she recorded how much waste she avoided by reusing instead of repurchasing.

"By the end of this one-year record keeping, I was astonished by how much plastic waste I would have created, had I chosen to repurchase rather than refill," said Cerini. "I began to imagine what all of this plastic waste would look like if gathered in one place. It was then that I decided to make molds of my containers and to cast reproductions, one for each of the plastic containers I would have created had I not refilled/reused."

Cerini hopes that re(f)use will serve as a permanent reminder for all to rethink the use of plastics.

For more information about this project and her other work, visit Cerini's website at www.amandacerini.com.