Danish artist Thomas Dambo installed five troll sculptures in Dorothea Dix Park at the end of October. Dambo has created 171 trolls that can be found in countries all around the world, and now North Carolina has the largest North American installation.
Dambo’s mission is to make his audience more aware of the environment around them by encouraging exploration. His sculptures are purposefully hidden in forested areas, so the viewers have to seek them out.
Nick Smith, chief of staff for the Dix Park Conservancy, said that Dambo and the conservancy worked together to reflect Dambo’s vision for the trolls — a vision centered on encouraging people to explore the environment around them. Dambo’s sculptures are intentionally tucked into forested areas so visitors have to seek them out, and despite Dix Park’s urban setting and its proximity to downtown Raleigh, the park’s wooded areas offered the perfect setting for the trolls.
“The master plan, which the conservancy has supported financially, but also supports conceptually, has the campus transforming and removing a lot of that built space and renaturalizing, regreening a lot of these areas,” Smith said. “This specific project is highlighting the natural areas that exist already.”…