Cyclesteria: Making Beauty in Life’s Chaos

The work of Senior Ariana Acebo '25 showcased in the Cyclesteria exhibition. Photo by Lucy Baldino '25.

Another senior art and digital media capping exhibition made its way to the Steel Plant Gallery at Marist University on Wednesday, April 16. This show’s theme, “Cyclesteria,” focuses on the hysterical cycles and spirals observed through everyday life. 

Professor Paul Qaysi’s capping courses this semester worked collaboratively with each other when creating the theme, using a multitude of ideas and words from various students to create the word and theme of “cyclesteria.”

Jenna Corrado ‘25, a studio art major, shared, “I am proud to have been a part of the team that developed our theme, ‘Cyclesteria'. Amid our discussions on potential concepts, I found myself drawn to the recurrence of cycles and spirals observed in life.”

“My team created a spreadsheet of words that inspired us, where I found ‘hysteria’ included by my friend and collaborator, Sofia Hernandez,” stated Corrado. “I often combine words and phrases to create nicknames for friends and family; therefore, uniting the words ‘cycle’ and ‘hysteria’ came naturally to me. Through research, collaboration and my own creative tendencies, ‘Cyclesteria’ was born.” 

The exhibit showcased numerous styles of artwork, including paintings, photography, films, 3D sculptures and more, with many students leading their work strongly in the theme’s direction.

Sofia Hernandez ‘25 is a digital media major who chose to showcase the skills she has learned over these past four years in her senior project. “I created a collection of artworks that highlight a diverse range of my skill sets… I decided to construct a playful, childlike environment using felt and mixed media elements to evoke nostalgic memories of playtime,” Hernandez stated. 

“I chose to revisit cycles of the past, specifically childhood memories, and integrate them with my current creative practices,” she stated. “My work draws the bittersweet nature of nostalgia, and more specifically, the comforting yet unsettling feeling of revisiting a time of innocence.” 

Senior Alex Guilmain ‘25, a digital media major, also touched upon the topic of revisiting previous times in his life with inspiration from the theme, making a black and white collage of himself from when he was a child up until now, about to graduate college. 

“The theme of the show had to do with reflection as it was one of the many possible takeaways from the word ‘cyclesteria,’” Guilmain stated. “So for me, this was about looking back on my time in four main different chapters of my life and seeing the different people that I was in these time periods.”

“Something really exciting that came out of this experience for me was the process of collecting the photos that I used, reliving old memories and moments that were captured in my life, and helped me reminisce and gain an appreciation for those past times in my life,” shared Guilmain.