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The Sighted See the Surface is an expansive project developed by Dorit Cypis over the course of seven years (2012-18). Sparked by the death of mentor and teacher Michael Asher, Cypis excavates her 40 year art practice by connecting disparate points from past to present while unearthing the complexities between sight and seeing, difference and the psychosocial relations within and between people. Works made during this period include animation, photography, prints and drawings.

In tandem, Cypis collaborated with LM Projects who mirrored her process, research and epiphanies into a nonlinear book form. Timelines, oral histories, archival material, original artworks and mediation methodologies intertwine on pages that shift in surface and scale. Cypis reconstructs a cannon all her own—one that integrates the conceptual with the political and deepens her investigation into aesthetics, ethics and engagement, the roots of her practice since the late 1970s. Printed in an edition of 134, each book is signed and numbered by the artist. A special edition of 10 books include a unique drawing.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Dorit Cypis is an artist and mediator who has consistently explored the psychological, physical and social aspects of history, knowledge and experience that inform identity and social relations. At the core of her trans- disciplinary process, moving between the studio and the street is an exploration of the artist’s role as both private and public. Cypis has partnered with museums and galleries to present performances, photographs and immersive media installations. She has also worked with individuals, organizations and community groups, to design public programs and communication processes that shift personal and social conflicts into generative relations.

Cypis has exhibited internationally since the 1980s, at venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art, ICA/Boston, International Center of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Banff Center for the Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Walker Art Center, Orange County Museum of Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and at galleries and community centers. Her essays on identity, social relations and empathy have appeared in art and mediation journals including “The Space of Conflict” in Handbook of Mediation, (Routledge, 2012). Cypis has taught on identity, social relations and conflict engagement, with an emphasis on experiential learning, across the United States, Canada, Holland, France, Switzerland, Germany and Israel.

Cypis has founded and developed complex social programs including North East Youth Council, to guide youth in community building and in leadership skills to enhance relations between North East Los Angeles community members and police; Mediators Beyond Borders, to build local groups’ capacities to engage conflict collectively and generatively; Kulture Klub Collaborative, to partner professional artists, arts and social service organizations in supporting artists and homeless youth working together towards generative social expression; Foundation for Art Resources, to develop partnerships between artists and public urban sites across Los Angeles, generating cultural discourse. Cypis’ work in mediation and conflict communication incorporates perceptual, reflective and critical thinking tools from the field of aesthetics, somatic practice from dance and healing and communication and negotiation skills from conflict resolution.

In 2014, Cypis was honored with a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency and SpART (Social Practice Art) Award. Her previous awards and fellowships have come from the Japan Foundation; Bush, McKnight, Jerome, Irvine/Ordway and Durfee Foundations; City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs; Fellows of Contemporary Art; and the National Endowment for the Arts. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Education from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts and a Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University.

Cypis was born in Israel and immigrated to Canada as a child and to the USA as a young adult. She currently lives in Los Angeles.