Born in Savannah, Georgia, sculptor Tyrone Mitchell creates three-dimensional, mixed-media assemblages from wood, fabric, and paint. Inspired by African traditions—particularly the cultures of Mali and Senegal—Mitchell uses conventional tools to create works that appear to have been organically grown or plucked from other periods in history. He has also drawn elements from other cultures, often blending them in surprising juxtapositions, such as carving lines from a Walt Whitman poem into a salvaged piece of a 500-year-old Chinese temple. In addition to his studio practice, Mitchell teaches students at New York’s Queens College.