What do you do with scrap wood and leftover construction materials? Throw them in the dump yard? Not Thomas Dambo artist. This sculptor, who was born in Odense, Denmark, and is now based in Copenhagen, Denmark, has created mammoth sculptures from scrap materials. They appear so intimidating that people are often left awestruck!
Despite their looks, Dambo’s creations excite visitors no end, who not only explore them but also take selfies. He has created and installed gigantic trolls, giants and even an evil wolf. His sculptures are not only arresting but are also helpful. For example, his installation of ‘Teddy Friendly’ has an arm extending across a tiny stream that actually helps people cross it; ‘Little Tilde’ offers home for animals and has 28 birdhouses; ‘Troels The Troll’, with hair composed of wild plants, holds a swing that children simply love to play on.
Thomas Dambo sculpture locations are all over the world. Over the last three years, he has installed 25 giant-sized sculptures from recycled materials. He usually installs his giant sculptures off the beaten track that’s not frequented by people. This is to maintain the surprise element. Each sculpture has Thomas Dambo sculpture map or a poem, engraved into a stone that provides hints to the visitors to locate these giants.
In 2018, Dambo installed six colossal wooden trolls in The Morton Arboretum, located in northern Illinois, USA. Here too, Troll Hunt takes the visitors on a journey to locate these 15- to 20-foot trolls within the Arboretum’s 1,700-acre area. Unraveling these six folkloric figures – Ema, Furry, Joe the Guardian, Little Arturs and Niels Bragger – is one of the most exciting things that visitors look forward to. For their construction, he required 600 old pallets, a fence, an old wooden shed, and whatever he could lay his hands on.
Dambo’s main material for construction is recycled wood. And his sculpting is not a one-man-show, he takes the help of local volunteers, too, and rewards them by naming a sculpture after the name of a volunteer. Thomas Dambo Instagram page displays most of his creations.
Thomas Dambo recycled art uses waste materials not only to recycle them in a creative way but also to highlight the relationship of works of art and their surroundings. And he achieves them in the most eye-catching way. What better way than this to take care of our planet!
Image Via: Thomas Dambo Instagram
Thomas Dambo: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube
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Seeing your work in Belgium was a highlight. I am now on a quest to find the trolls in the US a d hear their stories. Thank you.