Artifacts brings together two bodies of Denise's work, Personal Artifacts and Chasing Light: "As an analog, fine art photographer, my creative process is driven by light, observation, and the material and equipment I choose to convey my story. In 2016 my world forever changed due to a medical diagnosis. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to fold my passion for photography into new projects. At first, it was challenging to think beyond the familiar. It was difficult to appreciate creativity while experiencing such a loss, so I felt that I had to find a new way to stand in gratitude.

This sparked the genesis of my Personal Artifacts series. I had a few stalled starts--it's been almost 2 years in the making. The development of the series paralleled the past few years of my life--lots of stops and starts as I worked through my new life. Simultaneously, I began another new body of work I'm calling Chasing Light. I happened upon a box of old films, TV shows and commercials, at a flea market. I love touching the film. When I picked it up and started reviewing each of the reels, I was taken by the shapes and colors. I purchased the box and began to curate and reinterpret how it would be seen. I started to feel my photographer's intuition kick in. Then it dawned on me--I'm chasing light, on film, while still eliciting the nostalgia that my work is known for."