“Transcendent” by Hannah Mitchell

This art piece is "Chaos" by Mark Yale Harris. A photogrpah of carved gray stone with black swirling veins, like granite. Rounded soft curves as if it's not actually stone, such softness in the round shapes intersecting like bodies twisting together, like fabric or fluid. It is lit from above, its hollows filled with shadow disappearing into the black background.
Chaos by Mark Yale Harris

How beautiful the thought, that
Like an artisan,
Like tradesfolk,
Some humans may build for themselves
A house of the flesh
That feels like home.

Michelangelo said,
“I saw the angel in the marble
And carved until I set him free.”

How god-like,
To hold your identity within your palms,
And sculpt the shape of it
In your own true image.
To set yourself free from the
Shackles of the Self
(self-imposed or not)
And forge your reality
From sketched to solid.

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Author photo of Hannah Mitchell. She has short brown hair and a bright half smile. She looks halfway towards the camera in a black shirt.

Hannah Mitchell has been writing poetry since she was old enough to scribble. A teacher of English, she earned her master’s degree at Piedmont College and has been in education for over fifteen years. ​Mitchell’s work has been published through the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, The Ignatian literary magazine, and the online literary journal You Might Need To Hear This. She is a Southern Appalachian woman who has battled mental illness while earning her degrees, working full-time, and raising two daughters.

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Artist photo of Mark Yale Harris. A closeup of a smiling, quizzical man in a dark blue shirt, with short white hair.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Mark Yale Harris spent his childhood enthralled in a world of  drawing and painting. Though honored for his creative endeavors, he was encouraged to pursue  a more conventional career. After finding conventional success, the artistic passion that existed  just beneath the surface was able to present itself. Harris began sculpting, and has since created  an evolving body of work in stone and bronze, now featured in public collections, museums and  galleries worldwide, including: Hilton Hotels; Royal Academy of London; Marin MOCA; Four Seasons Hotels and the Open Air Museum – Ube, Japan.