Thomas Dambo
Thomas Dambo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 or 1980 (age 46–47) |
| Children | 2 |
Thomas Dambo is a Danish sculpture artist. He is known for his installations of giant wooden sculptures made out of recycled materials called trolls.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Dambo was born in 1979 or 1980[2] to his mother, a theater costume seamstress, and his father, a blacksmith.[3] He grew up in Denmark, where he was frequently exposed to troll legends. As a child, he enjoyed spending time in nature.[2] He built treehouses, dug caves, and put up zip lines in the woods.[4]
Dambo is based in Copenhagen.[5] He is married and has twin sons.[4] He has ADHD.[6]
He is also a musician and songwriter, and had a decade-long musical career in Denmark.[6]
Art
[edit]Dambo attended Design School Kolding.[3]
Dambo's art centers on sculptures made out of recycled materials. He has created birdhouses, trolls, and installation pieces from reclaimed wood and plastic.[7]
Trail of a Thousand Trolls
[edit]In the early 2010s, Dambo began the "Trail of a Thousand Trolls" project, which aims to build a thousand trolls from recycled materials.[5][8] His first troll, "Hector the Protector", was installed in Culebra, Puerto Rico in 2014.[3] The sculpture was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and Dambo created a second Hector sculpture in 2019.[3]
By July 2025, Dambo and his team had created 170 trolls.[8] Often, Dambo recruits local volunteers to help with the installation of the trolls.[3]
The trolls are installed in various locations in 20 countries.[8] Some of the locations include:
United States
[edit]- Three trolls (and a fourth hidden sculpture) in Clinton, Iowa[9]
- Five trolls at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
- Five trolls at Dix Park, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Rita the Rock Planter, Victor, Colorado[10]
- Six trolls as part of Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bird King
- A troll at Hainesport Township, New Jersey
- Three trolls at Bernheim Forest in Clermont, Kentucky
- Twelve at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, North Carolina, as part of "Trolls: A Field Study"[11]
- "Lulu the Troll", California Nature Art Museum, Solvang[12]
- "Isak Heartstone", Breckenridge, Colorado
- "Mama Rosa", Wauwatosa, Wisconsin[13]
- Six trolls at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, New York, as part of the “TROLLS: Save the Humans” touring exhibition,[14] formerly at Filoli in Redwood City, California[8]
- "Greta Granite" and "Erik Rock" at Ninigret Park in Charlestown, Rhode Island[4]
- "Detroit Lakes [Minnesota] has six trolls and three portals (extensions of Alexa’s arms) located throughout the Detroit Lakes area and beyond. (One portal is located just over the North Dakota border in downtown Fargo.)" [15]
- Rose Wonders was featured at Burning Man - Black Rock City 2025 - as indicated in a video on the official burning man website - 2025 Black Rock City Art Tour, video by Jamen Percy[16] Rose Wonders now resides in Filoli Gardens, California, according to Thomas Dambo's official website[17]
Other countries
[edit]- Six trolls as the Giants of Mandurah, five in Mandurah, Western Australia and one in Subiaco[18]
- Ulla, a giant female troll. Parque de la Familia, Santiago, Chile[19]
- The Giant of the Sperrins. Gortin Glen forest park, Tyrone. Northern Ireland
- Børkop, Denmark
- "Mamma Wok", Seoul, South Korea[20]
- Magical troll forest, De Schorre, Boom
- Hugging Olga. Kása Forest, Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary[21]
Online Resources
[edit]An official "Troll Map"[22] is available online and provides geo locations of troll sculpture installations.
References
[edit]- ↑ Free, Cathy (9 July 2024). "He makes giant trolls out of trash, hides them in woods for people to find". The Washington Post.
- 1 2 "Thomas Dambo: Sperrin Mountains 'fairy tale' setting for trolls". 2024-04-13. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Blair, Elizabeth (2021-05-06). "Far From The Internet, These Big, Benevolent Trolls Lure Humans To Nature". NPR. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- 1 2 3 Lippman, Ross (2024-09-05). "3 weeks inside Thomas Dambo's world of trolls". New England Public Media. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- 1 2 Slogoff, Madeline (2025-01-23). "From Trash to Troll Treasure". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- 1 2 Tidwell, Kim (2023-11-28). "What Matters to Thomas Dambo". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ Gerdes, Vicki (2024-05-23). "For artist Thomas Dambo, every troll has a story". Detroit Lakes Tribune. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- 1 2 3 4 Chea, Terry (2025-07-23). "Giant trolls have a message for humans about protecting the planet". AP News. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Dambo | Grow Clinton". www.growclinton.com. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
- ↑ Wilson, Spencer (8 August 2023). "Meet Rita the Rock Planter in Victor, a second giant wood troll sculpture in Colorado by Thomas Dambo". CBS News Colorado. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
- ↑ "Trolls: A Field Study". The North Carolina Arboretum. Retrieved 2026-02-09. [dead link]
- ↑ De La Peña, Randy (7 Feb 2025). "Thomas Dambo giant troll "Lulu" installed at California Nature Art Museum in Solvang". Santa Maria Times. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
- ↑ Hernandez, Jovanny (28 May 2025). "Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo reveals Wauwatosa troll". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
- ↑ "TROLLS: Save the Humans at The Wild Center | Tupper Lake Adirondack Event 2026 | Things to Do in the Adirondacks". ADK Taste - The Best of the Adirondacks. 2026-06-01. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ https://www.exploreminnesota.com/things-to-do/attractions/thomas-dambo-trolls-detroit-lakes
- ↑ https://burningman.org/black-rock-city/bring-your-art/
- ↑ https://www.thomasdambo.com/works/rosewonders
- ↑ "Giants of Mandurah". Mandurah Tourism. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
- ↑ Zambra, Darío (24 Dec 2021). "Conoce a Ulla, la troll de madera gigante que sorprende a los visitantes del Parque de la Familia". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ↑ Barger, Jennifer (2025-10-22). "This Danish artist makes trash into trolls". National Geographic. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
- ↑ "Giant troll sculpture Hugging Olga unveiled in Hódmezővásárhely │ Szegedify". Szegedify. Retrieved 2026-07-08.
- ↑ https://trollmap.com/
