![\"Artist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/21890d8b-4c70-4274-b00c-726efe4dac6f.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBorn in Seoul in December 1986, Henrik Uldalen was adopted by a Norwegian couple when he was just a few months old. He grew up in Asker, a small town outside Oslo, with what he describes as a \u201cloving family\u201d of parents and two siblings as well as friends.<\/p>\n
A quiet child, he found refuge in drawing and once imagined becoming an art teacher. Instead, he became an artist and settled in London about a decade ago.<\/p>\n
For most of his life, he focused on blending into the communities around him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent the majority of my life up until last year actively avoiding conversations about adoption,\u201d he recalled in an interview with The Korea Times on Nov. 12. \u201cI shut down any attempt from my parents to talk about Korea and learn more about my life there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uldalen just \u201cwanted to be a \u2018normal\u2019 Norwegian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut over the years, it became clear that many things in my life directly correlated with refusing my true self \u2014 a lack of belonging anywhere, rootlessness, and biological and physical differences from Norwegians and most Westerners.\u201d<\/p>\n
That changed last year, when Whitestone Gallery Seoul invited him to hold a solo exhibition. That exhibition, \u201cLost\/Found,\u201d was held this year from Aug. 30 to Oct. 19 and featured around 30 works. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Artist Henrik Uldalen stands in front of one of his paintings at Whitestone Gallery Seoul during his solo show. Courtesy of Whitestone Gallery Seoul<\/p>\n
Identity issues at center of his works<\/p>\n
\u201cThe exhibition was a raw and honest account of emotions around betrayal, abandonment and identity, but also acceptance and love. In order to find myself and really let go, I needed to paint primatively, almost like a child,\u201d Uldalen said.<\/p>\n
The paintings on display in \u201cLost\/Found\u201d combined portraits and abstract forms. One motif dominated: distorted faces.<\/p>\n
According to the artist, the distorted faces reflect his own sense of being lost and appears in his previous works of human figures. They are created by burning parts of the canvas or applying chemicals and wiping them away.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large portion of my work over the past 15 years has revolved around existentialism, identity and change,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s taken years of self-discovery to understand myself and my art. Only in recent years have I realized that much of what I talked about in my earlier works is directly related to adoption, for better and worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Park Ji-young, director of Whitestone Gallery Seoul, noted that Uldalen\u2019s personal background was what first caught her attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year, we try to introduce European artists who aren\u2019t well-known in Korea,\u201d Park said. \u201cWhen we were selecting artists to reach out to, his personal story made him stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that visitors unfamiliar with Uldalen\u2019s background found the paintings \u201cstrong and frightening\u201d at first glance, but once they learned his story, their understanding of the works deepened noticeably. <\/p>\n
Uldalen works primarily in oil \u2014 the medium that inspired him to pursue art professionally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to be an art teacher, but at 19, I discovered oil painting and that was it. I knew this was what I wanted to do for life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Even so, he doesn\u2019t want to be limited by the medium. Recently, he began exploring videography and cinematography as new avenues for expression.<\/p>\n
![\"Installation](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/94b6a15e-873b-4e4d-9018-94caab787473.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Installation view of Henrik Uldalen’s recent exhibition “Lost\/Found” at Whitestone Gallery Seoul, which ran from Aug. 30 to Oct. 19 \/ Courtesy of Whitestone Gallery Seoul<\/p>\n
Homecoming to Korea<\/p>\n
Uldalen\u2019s exhibition brought him back to Korea for the first time in almost 25 years. The last time he was in Seoul was at age 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then, I came with my Norwegian parents, but I had no interest. I was just a tourist,\u201d he said, adding that his parents were happy and supportive of his decision to reconnect with Korea through his solo show.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter accepting the gallery\u2019s offer, I went to Norway and we spoke about it. Both of them cried \u2014 it was the first time I\u2019d seen my dad cry \u2014 but out of happiness. They\u2019ve wanted me to explore this part of my life for a long time. They told me, \u2018Don\u2019t worry, Henrik. Go on this journey and explore.\u2019 It was a really wonderful and touching moment.\u201d <\/p>\n
Arriving in Korea, Uldalen didn\u2019t know what to expect. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t expect the openness and willingness to keep the dialogue going from Koreans who visited the show,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the gallery, I was called \u2018brother\u2019 and \u2018son\u2019 several times. I had long conversations and even cried with visitors. It was eye-opening and I now feel a strong urge to continue learning about Korea \u2014 the culture and its people.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/461473db-f64b-4a42-bbc6-e06e0b852424.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Henrik Uldalen’s “Untitled” \/ Captured from Henrik Uldalen’s Instagram<\/p>\n
In his spare time, Uldalen and his wife wandered through narrow alleys, subways and traditional markets in Seoul, and felt what he called \u201ca good vibe.\u201d The couple plans to return next year.<\/p>\n
Before and after the show, many Korean adoptees contacted him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a wild ride hearing all these stories \u2014 some horrendous, some wonderful,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a wonderful upbringing, and many others did too, while some had the most horrible experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning more about the Korean government\u2019s role in perpetuating systematic fraud in overseas adoptions unsettled him. Yet, one thing is clear: \u201cThe doors you avoid the most are exactly the ones you should open.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Born in Seoul in December 1986, Henrik Uldalen was adopted by a Norwegian couple when he was just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-298734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}