Russell Gilder was born in Plymouth in 1966 and studied painting, drawing and printmaking at Birmingham City University, graduating with a BA Fine Art (Hons) in 1996. He is based in the South West of England.

His paintings and large-scale drawings are rooted in the borderlands of South Shropshire — a landscape of ancient woodland, historical conflict and literary resonance. Working primarily in oil on canvas and panel, often at significant scale and in diptych or triptych format, the work seeks an immersive experience — the painting as environment rather than image.

The oils grow from an exhaustive process of large charcoal drawings, both bodies of work sharing the same preoccupations: enclosure, permanence, the threshold between darkness and light.

His work is held in public and private collections in the UK, Europe and North America, and has been exhibited widely including at the Royal Academy, the RWA and the John Moores Painting Prize.