About

I'm Thomas Dambo, Danish recycling artist. Our world is drowning in trash while we are running out of natural resources.
In 2011 I quit my job to become an artist and follow my mission to 'Waste no more'.

Today, I spend my life showing the world that beautiful things can be made out of trash. I give new life to discarded materials by turning them into large-scale artworks. My journey has led me to create artworks in 20 countries across five continents, including my giant Trolls, plastic works, birdhouses, and Happy Wall exhibitions. All these projects are realized using hundreds of tons of recycled materials, working in and with local communities, who are co-creators of the art that I make because the mission I follow needs the involvement of everybody. I also host talks as a speaker, such as TEDx talk, and sometimes I host workshops to teach people how to reuse and upcycle.

If you want to join my mission, follow me on YouTube,  Instagram or Facebook.

TedX Talk in Fargo

BIO

2023

I made the project “Way of the Bird King”. An extensive road trip project in the USA spread over 6 states, featuring ten troll sculptures and a fairytale book. 

2023

I made my troll number 100, Månemor. A troll located in a secret location, only to be found through an extensive international treasure hunt launched on Trollmap, connecting people from all around the world in the quest to find Troll#100. 

2022

I got my big break in Australia with the exhibition Giants of Mandurah

2021

I bought a farm with 22 hectares of land outside of Copenhagen, where we have private quarters, work studios, offices, and a large workshop.

2020

My commissions at the Olympics in Japan, Burning Man, and Australia, among others, were canceled due to Covid. Being out of work, me and my team made Den Kæmpestore Troldefolkefest (The Great Trolliefolkyfest), a project spread all over Denmark that includes 10 trolls and a fairytale book. This turned Denmark into the number one location to experience my trolls and made me a household name in my birth country.  

2019

I took my troll project to a new level, making The 7 trolls and the Magical Tower for the festival Tomorrowland in Belgium.

2018

I made one of my all-time favorite projects, Future Forest. A 600-meter squared forest made from plastic waste sourced and built with the help of more than a thousand volunteers in Mexico City. 

2018

Having seen the Six Forgotten Giants, USA's largest arboretum, Morton Arboretum, well known for showcasing big art exhibitions, hired me to bring my giant project to the arboretum. I developed the project Troll Hunt, six trolls hunting for humans to teach them to become better towards nature. The project became a HUGE success and broke the arboretum attendance record by more than 10% in its first year of exhibition, seeing over 1.24 million visitors. 

2016

I made the Six Forgotten Giants, a collaborative project among six municipalities in the greater Copenhagen Area to bring people into and connect people with nature through my art. The project became a huge viral success online, seen by hundreds of millions of people, bringing vast amounts of new tourism to the selected areas and putting my name on the world map, bringing in attention and offers from all over the world.

2015

2015 was a important year for my development as an artist. I really started experimenting with making huge recycled wood sculptures in the style, and scale now seen in my worldwide trolls project. This was the year I made Ben Chiller, Troels The Troll, Big Boss Bertel, Simon Selfmade, Frederikke and Olav The Wolf. By the end of the summer, I made a post on the website Bored Panda featuring these works which went really viral and got me in contact with alot of new international client's.

2014

I built Mr Limbo and Mrs Limbo at the Danish music festival Smuk Fest. Mr and Mrs Limbo are considered the first two trolls. 

I was invited to exhibit at the art festival Culebra Es Lay in Puerto Rico. Instead of building the sculpture at the festival grounds, I hid it on the other side of the island. Initially, The festival opposed the move, but hiding the giant, adding the aspect of exploration to the piece, turned out to be one of the cornerstones in the troll project moving forward. And Hector Protector I is a beloved local icon even today.

2013

I created Remake Utopia, a small village inside the Copenhagen shopping district, with a restaurant, bar, games, and hangout spaces - all free and made from reclaimed materials, food, and drinks from the Roskilde Festival. The project would later develop into several installations, including Remake Christmas - the world's first Christmas Market made entirely from reclaimed materials, also in the center of Copenhagen. Through this project, I hired my first full-time employee, a fellow student from the Kolding School of Design Hektor Stockholm.

2013

I was chosen to do a piece for Byens Hegn, a project developed by the Copenhagen Metro Company, where artists decorate the walls surrounding the construction sites, making new metro stations in the Copenhagen area. I invented Happy Wall, a large interactive installation allowing anyone to express themselves on a large scale in a public space by flipping wooden pixels on a wall. Placed in the Copenhagen Hotspot Kongens Nytorv, the project gained popularity and opened the door for me to take my work internationally when I was invited to bring the Happy Wall to Las Vegas for the art festival Life is Beautiful. The Happy Wall was later displayed at the Olympics in Rio and China during Beijing Design Week.

2012

I rented my first workshop in Østerbro after getting my MA at the Kolding School of Design. The workshop's focus was making art/design installations, scenography, and furniture from reclaimed materials. Many of my clients at this point came from my network in hip-hop music and the television industry.

2010

I worked for Danish Public Television DR, making fun and large-scale projects from reclaimed materials as short films for the TV program "DR MAMA Says." such as the Milk Box Cow.

2010

I stumbled upon a warehouse in Kolding, throwing away large sums of plywood from their business, and came up with the idea for Happy City Birds. As a project at the design school, I created 250 colorful birdhouses and put them up all over Denmark to create awareness of the importance of protecting the few animals still thriving in the cities, birds. Happy City Birds has developed several projects over the years, including thousands of birdhouses, and still lives through some of the troll sculptures.

2006-2012

I decided to get my MA in Interaction Design at The Kolding School of Design. I quickly became a well-known character on campus with my quirky design ideas and when I made myself a secret bedroom inside one of the campus buildings. This is also where I began to understand the growing potential for building with reclaimed materials, incorporating it into my private work and school projects wherever possible.

2006

I made a birdhouse. Seeing my graffiti friends being criminalized and penalized for their fine work, I made my first street art birdhouse as an alternative to graffiti. Now, instead of hiding in the dark of the night, I was solicited to put up my art. 

2004-2013

I formed the Hip-Hop super crew Fler Farver with my younger brother Morten and some of our close friends from Odense. The group gained great support and acknowledgment in the Danish underground hip-hop scene. In the span of 10 years, we released 9 albums and toured the country tirelessly.   

Besides rapping, I became a force in the marketing and stage performance, making street art stickers, scenography, and gimmicks for our legendary concerts.

2001-2003

Through graffiti, I became fascinated with all aspects of hip-hop culture and became a prolific beatboxer. A skill that took me touring with Norwegian rapper Skranglebein.

1995

I dove into street art, urban exploration, and graffiti and became a part of a graffiti crew.

1985-1994

I made a little wooden box for my brother's pacifier. As a child, I had a "bit" of extra energy, always running around scavenging things and materials in containers with my friends to build a massive fortress in their backyard.

1979

I was born in Odense, Denmark. Growing up in a cozy collective. I am the oldest of two sons; my father was a bicycle smith, and my mother was a grade school teacher and a seamstress.