As the story goes, Thomas Dambo's artistic journey began when he fell into a trash can at age six — and started playing.
"I started building with trash," he said on IPR's Talk of Iowa.
The Danish artist's fascination started small — he made birdhouses and furniture from unique pieces he found while dumpster diving. Then, over time, his work grew into larger, more sculptural art pieces fashioned from recycled scrap wood.
"It grew and morphed into becoming these really, really big sculptures," he said. "They couldn't fit in the streets. I started putting them in the forest and started calling them trolls."
Today, Dambo's towering, whimsical trolls are known around the world. Built entirely from reclaimed materials, they've popped up in hidden, natural locations all across the globe. Now, as part of his goal to place at least one troll in every U.S. state, there are four to find in Iowa.
A global phenomenon lumbers into the state
Dambo has created more than 170 troll sculptures across 17 countries, hiding them in forests, parks and unexpected places. In Iowa, his trolls can now be found in Elk Horn, near the town's Museum of Danish America, and in Clinton in three locations.
Elk Horn's troll, "Fjord Ferryman," has already been unveiled. Standing inside a wooden boat, the giant, 25-foot figure appears to paddle across the prairie with an oar fashioned from a downed tree. According to the museum's communications manager, Amelia Juhl, it's a tribute to Danish immigrants who settled in the region — Elk Horn is home to the largest rural population of Danish Americans in the U.S.
"It's sailing across the prairie, paddling and bringing in these immigrants and helping them settle," she said.
Like many of Dambo's other trolls, Fjord Ferryman is interactive. Visitors can pose with it, touch it and even climb into its large boat.
"It invites people to step into the boat and become a part of that immigrant story," Juhl said.
Clinton’s long campaign to bring trolls to town
While the troll in Elk Horn celebrates its Danish heritage, Clinton’s trolls tell a story about its industrial past to promote future tourism.
In the late 1800s, Clinton was known as the “Lumber Capital of the World,” where logs floated down the Mississippi River before being shipped west. Bringing a Dambo troll to the area began as an ambitious idea from leaders at the Sawmill Museum, who saw a natural connection between its past and Dambo’s work. But they had to convince him to create a troll in a more urban setting.
“We sent many, many messages,” said Ari Lewerenz, board president of the museum. She sent emails, notes — even a poem — over a period of months before finally hearing back and scheduling time for Dambo to visit.
Now, three trolls named Helmut, Marvin and Warren will be unveiled to the community on May 1. They can be found outside the museum, at Bickelhaupt Arboretum and inside a former railroad depot building at Riverview Park.
City leaders see the troll project as part of a broader effort to reshape Clinton’s identity. Dambo’s trolls have a track record of drawing visitors and boosting tourism. In Illinois, one of his installations, "Troll Hunt," drew more than a million visitors in a single year. Local organizers hope for a similar ripple effect with their trolls.
“I think our best days are in front of us,” said Andy Green, the museum's executive director. "I feel like there are so many people in our community that see potential, great things that are happening here all the time, and we're capitalizing on that, like with bringing the trolls into our community."
Built by the community
Across his career, Dambo estimates he has worked with more than 20,000 volunteers. While the artist constructs the heads of his trolls in his Denmark studio, the rest of each sculpture comes together on-site with the help of local volunteers, using reclaimed wood sourced from the surrounding area.
There was no shortage of help in Elk Horn, where nearly 90 volunteers came out to assist at various stages of the process.
"I can't wait to bring my boys back here," said volunteer Tonya Knudsen-Robson, who traveled from Portland, Oregon, to help build the sculpture in her hometown. "We live the Danish culture. We eat the Danish culture, and they are going to be blown away by this. And it's just going to be really fun to share it with them and tell them that Mom had something to do with it."
In Clinton, it's a similar story.
“The community would just show up if you need it,” Lewerenz said. “People are starting to feel that pride, and they're saying, 'These are our trolls,' and 'I danced in my wedding on that floor that you're about to build that troll with.' There are some benches from the arboretum that were memorial benches, and now they're going to be part of the troll, so we're incorporating history, and I feel like people here understand that."
Despite the fact that his pieces are typically embedded in nature, Dambo resists labels like “environmentalist." He prefers his own title: "garbage artist."
"There is endless, endless trash. So that basically means that we're throwing out unlimited wealth, and that wealth can be translated into great artistic experiences," he said. "[Garbage] has the power to suffocate and kill our planet. But it also has the power to create a new world.”
To hear this conversation, listen to Talk of Iowa hosted by Charity Nebbe. Samantha McIntosh produced this episode.
