Carrie Fonder, associate professor, teaches 2D design, 3D Design, drawing, sculpture and general education art appreciation.   

Fonder is a mixed media sculptor whose practice focuses on the exploitation of humor for cultural critique. Her conceptually motivated pieces often revel in material exploration that moves fluidly between traditional and contemporary media and methods. 

Her work engages the history of kitsch but moves it beyond the concepts of irony or judgment.  It embraces the typical self-conscious knowing but uses humor and style for vehicles of socio-cultural examination.  Humor creates a space for politics to enter while style knowingly distracts.  Formally, her work shifts between 2D and 3D as it investigates the real versus the represented. Fonder often utilizes devalued materials and methods, including polystyrene foam, airbrushed acrylics, and plywood. 

Fonder has exhibited nationally and internationally from Detroit, Michigan to New Delhi, India.  She is a member of Good Children Gallery in New Orleans and has attended numerous artist residencies including the Wassaic Project, New York, and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. 

Before coming to UWF in 2015, Fonder taught at several institutions in the greater Detroit Metro Area, including the College for Creative Studies.