In 1967,  at the invitation of his long-time friend and fellow artist John Wells, Denis Mitchell relocated to a studio at Trewarveneth in Newlyn. His work increasingly showed mature abstract forms in highly finished polished bronzes and notably one-off sculptures in wood and slate. Nanjivey (1991), carved and finished meticulously in Delabole slate, is such a piece.

Famously, from 1949 to 1959 Mitchell served as chief-assistant to Barbara Hepworth; an occupation that served him abundantly as an apprenticeship with the twentieth century's leading female sculptor. With Hepworth’s influence Mitchell's slate and wooden carvings, and eventually bronzes - developed an acute refinement of surface and sublime forms that were nevertheless quite distinct from Hepworth's.

Mitchell’s style is marked by a tension between polished, flowing surfaces and more rugged, raw textures. This can be observed comparing the two sides of Nanjivey and in particular the sculpted hole that joins them. There is also a strong sense of the landscape of Cornwall, and of his experiences working underground. His titles usually assign Cornish place-names, again as in Nanjivey. 

Nanjivey has been exhibited at Penwith Galleries, St Ives (1992), Flowers East, London (1993), Penwith Galleries, St Ives (1996) and the Bridge Gallery, Dublin (1997,) and was formerly part of Jonathan Gimbles remarkable collection of St Ives Modernist pieces.