Daniel Fountain (he/they) is an artist, curator, and researcher. They are currently Senior Lecturer in Art History and Visual Culture and Director of Postgraduate Research at the University of Exeter (UK).

Fountain's practice centers on traditional textile and needlework techniques, exploring themes of marginality and queerness through a 'non-binary' approach that transcends the artificial hierarchies between art and craft. Their "scavenger methodology" involves reclaiming discarded materials and found fabrics, coupled with a powerful strategy of linguistic reclamation. From a giant "big girl's blouse" to the use of needlework techniques like "faggoting" and materials such as "gimp" thread, Fountain reappropriates derogatory terms, transforming them into sites of playful defiance. Working with waste materials in ‘sloppy’ ways that refuse to be straight, clean, or neat, Fountain celebrates the realities and complexities of the queer experience. Fountain's work have exhibited internationally and has been featured in leading publications such as Surface Design Journal, Crafts, Decorating Dissidence, and Embroidery: The Textile Art Magazine. Daniel's practice-led PhD, All That Glitters Is Gold: Queering Waste Through Campy Craft, was funded by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Feminism, Sexual Politics and Visual Culture at Loughborough University.

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As a curator, Fountain has extensive experience working with leading arts and cultural organizations. Recent projects include curating an exhibition of Angus Suttie's ceramics and developing an LGBTQ+ public program at the Crafts Council; writing interpretation materials and a catalogue essay for Paul Yore: WORD MADE FLESH at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; co-curating First Outing at Grundy Art Gallery and Abingdon Studios; and organizing a symposium for National Museums Liverpool and the Queer British Art Network.

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Fountain is also a prolific writer and researcher. They are the editor of Crafted with Pride: Queer Craft and Activism in Contemporary Britain (Intellect Books and the University of Chicago Press, 2023) and the author of the forthcoming monograph, Queer Crafts: Material Practices and the Making of Identity (Bloomsbury, 2025). Their writing has appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals, including MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture, GLQ, TEXTILE: Cloth and Culture, and Art History. They have presented research papers and keynote presentations at numerous museums and galleries, including the Whitworth Art Gallery, Midlands Arts Centre, the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, the Museum for Art in Wood, and Tate Britain.