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E Pluribus by Ralph Helmick
Photo CreditWill Howcroft Photography
E Pluribus
Photo CreditWill Howcroft Photography

E Pluribus

Artist
Year2012
Classification sculpture
Medium powder coated steel
Dimensions492 x 324 in. (1249.7 x 823 cm)
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location
  • E Pluribus is a portrait of community in the broadest sense of the word.  It is also a portrait of a specific community, reflecting the social makeup of Cedar Rapids.  While one’s first impression of the sculpture is of a subtle, highly ordered abstraction, it soon becomes apparent that the vast latticework is composed of human profiles.  Scores of likenesses—silhouettes of living Cedar Rapids citizens—are connected in an interlocking mesh.  In August 2012, the artist’s team photographed a wide cross-section of Cedar Rapids citizens during the city’s Downtown Farmers’ Market.  From this substantial visual database, the artist selected a sample of portraits that accurately reflects the city’s demographic.  Thirty-five layers of silhouettes are linked in ascent, with each layer comprising mirrored portraits of twelve jurors engaged in thoughtful deliberation.  Near the base of the sculpture the silhouettes are separate and distinct.  As the composition tapers upward the silhouettes begin to overlap, eventually merging into a central mass before expanding outward again toward the top.  The sculpture’s double vortex form serves as a metaphor for the journey of a juror—the juror begins as an individual, then comes together with 11 others for a common purpose, and finally, returns to the world again as an individual.