Six young trolls have formed a gang to save humans from being eaten by old trolls who want to kill them for destroying mountains and scaring away the animals. That’s the story behind the folklore-inspired giant trolls created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo.
The whimsical creatures, which he sculpts from reclaimed materials, can be found in locations around the world, where they delight visitors while reminding us to respect our planet.
The exhibition, “Trolls: Save the Humans” is on display at the Atlanta Botanical Garden through September 17 and will travel to other cities not yet announced.
Each of the trolls, which range from 16 to 50 feet tall, has a unique personality, but all of them have a love of nature. For example, Rosa Sunfinger loves plants. An introvert, she expresses her personality through her plants. Wild child Base Buller expresses himself through symbols he makes with objects found in nature.
“Each troll has a different mission,” Thomas told us when we caught up with him in Atlanta as he was putting the finishing touches on the trolls prior to the opening of the exhibition. “They are like little kids and believe we need to teach humans to live in harmony with nature.”
Please see our short interview with Thomas here.
His website, ThomasDambo, has a Troll Map of where the 100 or so trolls can be found. “People plan trips so they can see my trolls,” Thomas said. “There are even Facebook groups devoted to them.”
Based in Copenhagen, Thomas is considered the world’s leading recycle artist and began making trolls about 10 years ago. And it doesn’t bother him that his creatures won’t live forever.
“They will probably last around 10 years,” he said. “I make them all from trash, so I don’t want them to last forever. Then they become part of the problem.”
When asked what some reactions to his trolls has been, Thomas relayed two stories. “Once I was creating a troll and at the time it had only one leg. A little boy asked his father, “When he gets the other leg, will he stand up and walk away?”
Another time a little girl, around 3 or so, looked at one of the trolls and said to her mother, “That troll looks like you when you get angry and say the f-word!”
“The trolls spark people’s imagination,” Thomas said.
– Jan Schroder, Editor-in-chief