Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Debra Jeanne Kraus Humanities

Fiat Lux

Debra’s life experience as a caregiver to her husband throughout his terminal illness has inspired her to create an art exhibit that narrates his lifetime as a man and soldier groomed by the social effects and fears of the Cold War. Her work will investigate agent orange exposure of American soldiers who fought in Vietnam. Fiat Lux, will be grounded in the social understanding of artwork from the 1960s, moving forward in time to explore some of our current veteran health issues. Six multi-media sculptures, four paintings, and a video installation produced from archival films will look at a person who survived from multiple cancers over thirteen-years, and ultimately, will examine his death. Her artistic contribution is unique in that it uses Pop Art techniques of the 1960s as a lens to look at contemporary issues of the post-Vietnam landscape.

Profile image of Debra Jeanne Kraus
Major: Art Practice
Mentor: Mentor: Professor Katherine Sherwood, Art Practice
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