This mass of natural and manipulated imagery, at times rendered with up to 2000 pounds of raw terra cotta, typically resides within a thin plastic enclosure extending toward the ceiling.
Jeanne Quinn describes the experience of standing in front of these works: “In McConnell’s constructions, he perfectly creates the idea of the walled garden, of the desired place that cannot be entered.
The individual forms presented in these works include such imagery as animal sculptures, Christmas trees, figures from popular culture, religious icons and faux Ming vases.
These objects are derived from a bevy of plaster molds intended for the hobby ceramics industry – from which McConnell casts and fires before arranging them into larger, singular structures.
were shoved together with other luminous characters from TV, creating a fantasia of delight.” She also states, “His final overall forms are simple shapes such as cones or mountains that are primary to our human collective consciousness.”[6] In March, 2007, McConnell displayed a white version of his Theory of Everything at the Cross McKenzie Ceramic Art gallery in Washington DC.