Vladimir Alexandrovich Marusich was born in 1981 in the German town of Neustrelitz. In 2004, he graduated from the Faculty of Art and Graphics of the Nekrasov Kostroma State Pedagogical Institute.

Marusich developed his unique artistic manner during his studies. At that time, he was fascinated by still lifes featuring antique things: irons, dishes, tools and furniture. His works of that time are characterized by dark color palettes, laconic compositions, and clear contours.

After graduation, Vladimir Marusich traveled around the country. He visited the Northern Urals and Karelia, where he made numerous sketches and found inspiration for new works. His individual style gradually changed.

He still painted antique artifacts, but they changed beyond recognition, and became almost abstract. Marusich rarely depicted people. The young artist focused his attention on abandoned villages that became obsolete, which increased the sense of tragedy.

Many an artist enters a stage in their life where the two-dimensional plane of a canvas or a sheet of paper becomes too restrictive and they venture out into three-dimensional space. Vladimir Marusich also decided to turn to sculpture; at the same time, he remained faithful to his interest in unconventional and unusual objects.

Marusich has always loved collecting antique irons, tools, and dishes. In the sculpture “The Barnkeeper” created in 2009, he used one of them — a wooden roller, which served in a peasant’s house as a tool for threshing flax, beating the clothes during washing and rinsing, as well as for bleaching the finished piece of fabric.

The minimalism of “The Barnkeeper” activates the viewer’s imagination and makes one speculate about the sculptor’s message. The human image here is rather allegorical and figurative. Nonetheless, the simplicity of the form does not obscure its imagery.

It is no coincidence that Vladimir Marusich turned to a wooden object to create such an image. Since ancient times, it has been believed that wood stores vital force. A sculpture made of wood conveys a special warmth that is not inherent in other materials.