Born in Cumbria in 1951, Gareth Fisher RSA attended Edinburgh College of Art from 1969 to 1976 gaining a Diploma in Sculpture before continuing with postgraduate study. During the late 70s and 80s, Fisher worked from a studio in Edinburgh and became Chairperson of the New 57 Gallery. In the 90s Fisher began working as a lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, becoming Professor of Sculpture in 2006.
Fisher tends to work in plaster but also makes constructions with wood and stone as well as sometimes casting in bronze. The act of constuction is significant in Fisher's practice, and the combination of solid form and construction comes together increasingly his more recent watercolour studies. In both his early and more recent work, Fisher combines realism with abstract motifs.