As with most of O'Connell's sculptures, Wingblade is predicated in nature. Its title and its innovative method of construction are used to evoke elements of both artificiality and abstraction. In a reversal of traditional definitions of biomorphism, O'Connell uses the living world to evoke an abstract one.

The inspiration for Wingblade is rooted in natural sources: a delicate shoulder-blade bone found by O'Connell and rudimentary creatures, such as snails and slugs with antennae that arch up towards the sky. Wingblade utilises the familiar language of organic forms, as in works like Constantin Brâncusi's Miracle (Seal 1) and Hans Arp's Fruit Amphore. Unlike these pieces, it defies its origins in crude naturalism as it gives prominence to refined artificiality.

Just as a bird taking to the sky, Wingblade, defies gravity. This weightlessness is achieved through the use of carbon fibre, a high-tech material, used in aerospace engineering and motorsports for its excellent strength-weight ratio. The combination of cutting edge technology, edgy title and physical dynamism lend this piece its cool contemporariness.

Wingblade represents a consolidation of the disparity between the natural and artificial. Its basis in primitive nature and use of simple formal elements are at odds with the graceful 'manufacturedness' that propels this piece into the future, calling to mind the capabilities of modern day science and genetic manipulation.