Karen Osdieck: Sheltered
‘Sheltered’ is an imitate view of my life in quarantine. I never could have imaged what living during a global epidemic would entail. The constant fear for the health of my family and the crippling anxiety of what was to come was too much for me to comprehend. What will I tell my children why they are not going back to school? How will I tell them they can not see their friends?
I started out documenting these uncertain times, our new normal, because that is just what I do. I had no preconceived vision for this series. My two boys, my husband and I live in a typical suburban neighborhood where property lines are sometimes blurred. Fences and security measures are used to create a safe space to protect our families. The idea of safety feels so different now. The boundaries I created to secure my space can no longer fully protect us. Covid-19 can gain uninvited access into our private lives.
While stepping back to document this real life drama unfolding in front of me, I learned children are resilient and truly a product of their environment. I felt it was important to be truthful with them as to what was really going on in the world. I struggled with the level of detail that I would expose them to. I remained strong and worked to fully understand their unique quarantine experience. It was easier for my older son to deal with his new situation but my younger son does not adjust well to change and is sensitive by nature. Both of my boys endured struggles, confusion, grief and happiness. We focused on any positivity that we were blessed with. We are all in this together and that is what keeps us going.
Karen Osdieck is an accountant by trade and a visual artist by passion from a small suburb outside of Chicago, Illinois. At a young age, Karen learned the importance of documenting family from her father.
As an artist, Karen aims to transfigure the everyday into something noteworthy. She uses photography to come to terms with the chaotic-ness of motherhood and simultaneously to normalize the unglamorous side of suburban childhood.
Now that her boys have entered a new stage of life and individuality her focus is the narrative of her children growing up in the thick of suburbia navigating the complexities of early adolescence. Karen’s work is influenced by the proverbial saying, “truth is stranger than fiction,” which leads her to document unapologetically. Karen believes in encouraging her boys to play, explore, be kind and true to themselves.