Here are three things you should know about Thomas Dambo:

1. Art made quite literally from waste
The Danish artist Thomas Dambo is known worldwide for transforming waste into playful works of art. He calls himself a “recycling artist” — and means it literally. Dambo uses materials that others throw away to create his troll sculptures. For the construction of The Garbage Man at ARKEN, the museum’s discarded floorboards will, among other things, be reused as part of the artwork.

2. Art shaped by its surroundings
Every artwork and every troll has a story. Before beginning a new project, Thomas Dambo draws inspiration from the surroundings in which the work will be exhibited and collaborates with local communities to understand their culture and stories. In this way, his artworks reflect the people and places from which they emerge.

3. When the troll reflects the human
In Thomas Dambo’s artistic universe, the trolls observe us just as much as we observe them. Rose Wonders is the largest troll Dambo has created to date. It was exhibited in August 2025 at one of the world’s most renowned festivals, Burning Man, located in the Nevada desert.
Dambo’s works always carry an environmental or sociological perspective. In Rose Wonders, for example, a staircase leads visitors up into the troll’s outstretched, open hands — a place where humans are observed by the troll, rather than the other way around.

With the exhibition The Garbage Man, children and adults alike are invited to explore themes such as waste, art, recycling, and humanity’s relationship with nature. The exhibition opens on 24 May 2026.

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Bio: Thomas Dambo
Born in Odense, Denmark, 1979
Educated at Design School Kolding (2006–2012), holding a Master’s degree in Interactive Design.
Thomas Dambo is a Danish recycling artist who has worked with reused materials throughout his entire artistic career. Before establishing his artistic practice, he expressed his creativity as a graffiti artist and musician.
Since 2014, Thomas Dambo has gained international recognition for his trolls and is today considered one of the world’s leading recycling artists. He has created more than 170 trolls in collaboration with volunteers, as part of an ambitious goal of building 1,000.
Dambo’s trolls The Six Forgotten Giants can be found across the Vestegnen area surrounding ARKEN, along with the work Camouflage Birdhouses, which is installed at various locations throughout the town of Ishøj.

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Sources:
Politiken, Culture section. Portrait of Thomas Dambo: He Builds Trolls All Over the World — What Is He Up To? by Emil Bergløv.
Thomas Dambo: Trash, Trolls and Treasure Hunts, by Thomas Dambo, Nina Poulsen, L. M. Klein & Jacob Keinicke.