Joe Walters has created a mixed media sculpture featuring plants and animals of the Des Plaines area. The materials used in the sculpture include steel rod, aluminum mesh and polymer clay finished with aluminum paint. This sculpture can be found in the Administration Office Reception Area.

Walters says that the underlying premise of the work is the interdependency of species in an ecosystem. Viewers may notice that there is a size discrepancy in the plants and animals represented. For example, the rabbit is larger than the buffalo. The artist says this is intentional. “I feel that all creatures are equally important, regardless of their size or status in the environment. If something happens to an insect, it affects a mammal in that ecosystem.”

Walters likes his work to be suggestive, but not explicit. “It leaves open some avenues for personal interpretation and meanings that are read into the work. It also has to do with the act of making art.”