Thomas Dambo sprinkles magic across the world. The Danish artist uses reclaimed materials like scrap wood, old pallets and twigs to build giant trolls that live in places like Australia, China, and Denmark.
Nick Maier measures a wood panel for the interior of the miniature house that a giant troll sculpture will be peeking into in Southwest Portland on Aug. 8, 2023. Maier works in his own woodshop and jumped at the opportunity to help with an art installation from artist Thomas Dambo.
Caden Perry / OPB
And now, the trolls are coming to the Pacific Northwest.
Nordic Northwest in Southwest Portland will host Oregon’s troll which is scheduled to be unveiled today near Nordia House, the organization’s cultural center.
“It’s in the back, in the garden,” Dambo said. The troll appears to lift up the roof of a red cabin while looking for a snack in the “big human cookie jar.”
Five other troll sculptures are currently being built in Washington state for the Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bird King project, and will be hosted at each site for at least three years.
Dambo has been traveling across the country and documenting his troll-making adventures on social media. The sculptures are accompanied by poems and fanciful stories to explain their motivations and origins which reflect the history and features of their surroundings.
He recently completed Rita, a troll he built in Colorado. Rita lives in Victor, a town where gold was discovered in the late 1800s. Rita took a nap and woke up to find her land covered in holes, so she covers the holes to protect humans and the nature around her.
Mama Mimi, built by Thomas Dambo lives in Rendezvous Park in Wilson, Wyo. Dambo's trolls exist across the globe. Six trolls are coming to the Pacific Northwest and include locations in Oregon and Washington.
Courtesy of Thomas Dambo
A wooden foot that will be inserted on the Nordic Northwest troll sculpture by Thomas Dambo in Southwest Portland on August 8, 2023. A combination of Dambo's artist team and Portland volunteers made the troll sculpture from scratch using recycled wood, nails and metal.
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Paul Tuomi helps the volunteer team finish the roof on the new troll sculpture in Southwest Portland on August 8, 2023. The sculpture is one of five making their debut in the Pacific Northwest, and the only one in Oregon.
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A volunteer team at Nordic Northwest in Southwest Portland constructs the "stua," Norwegian for miniature house. The project has three teams focused on house construction, troll assembly and material preparation.
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A sign on a tree telling visitors about roaming "trolls" in the Southwest Portland forests while a large troll sculpture is assembled on August 8, 2023. The troll sculpture is being assembled with a miniature house structure. The troll will be interacting with the house and opening up the roof.
Caden Perry / OPB
William Laufs measures final pieces for the troll's foot. Laufs has worked for Dambo for three years and started as an intern living in Dambo's workshop. "The trickiest part of this sculpture is working out how the limbs are interlocking and sticking," Laufs says.
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The giant troll sculpture peering into the miniature house. "The troll is a curious one and he smells either pies or cakes coming from the house," says Thurman Miller, a volunteer for Nordic Northwest.
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Erik Brakstad, left, Thurman Miller, center, and Paul Tuomi discuss scheduling assembly stages. The troll sculpture is planned to be unveiled on Friday, August 10, 2023. Brakstad, Miller, and Tuomi are all volunteers who saw opportunities to bring their skills and appreciation for Nordic culture into one project.
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Marc Jaso and Christine Beaulieu use recycled pallets to add "skin" to the giant troll art piece in Southwest Portland on August 8, 2023. All of the wood and pallets used to create the troll were donated by Reclaim Northwest.
Caden Perry / OPB
“I give my trolls the option to communicate with the human,” he said. “So if you’re treating the trolls and the animal and plant friends good, then they’ll provide for you and your family. But if not, then maybe they’ll come and blow your house over.”
Dambo remembers his mother singing a song about a troll when he was a kid in his native Denmark.
“There was a troll living on this little Danish island and then I would rent cassette tapes with trolls,” he said. “It’s embedded in Danish folklore and that’s what people believed before Christianity came.”
The trolls, which he calls the voice of nature, can be found all over the world and often have distinct features like long beards or playful hairdos. The pieces have also inspired troll hunters and are created with recycled materials, like used wooden pallets. Dambo said it’s important for people to remember that trash has value.
“Instead of having a world that’s drowning in its own trash, we can solve that issue by making beautiful and important things out of our trash,” he said.
Dambo spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller about his art. Listen to the full conversation: