4 sustainable giant sculptures designed by artist Thomas Dambo lands on Sentosa’s Palawan Beach

On your next trip to Sentosa, don’t be alarmed if you find four giant wooden sculptures lying around at the Palawan Beach. 

As part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations, Sentosa has collaborated with internationally renowned recycling artist Thomas Dambo to launch the sustainable sculptures named Little Lyn, Reef the Chief, Curious Sue and Dream Dee. 

Collectively, the family of four are known as Explorers of Sentosa. They were created with upcycled materials by Thomas, whose works can be found in Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, China, South Korea, Chile and the United States. 

This is his first recycled art exhibit in Southeast Asia, and revolves around a fairytale created by Dambo focusing on how the man-made Eternity Material can disrupt the natural environment. Through Explorers of Sentosa, Dambo hopes to remove the stigma of trash and prove that trash can be something that is beautiful.

Each giant sculpture took over 700 hours to construct, and used reclaimed wood materials such as pallets and floorboards. Waste plastics like plastic bottles were also used to create ornaments for the giants.

All four giants weigh about 5.5 tonnes in total, which is approximately the weight of three passenger cars.

The youngest of the giants, Curious Sue has adventure in her heart and joyfully searches for hidden treasures in the sand, with a cargo container being her largest prize so far. Sue is a reminder for visitors to be conscious of their consumption, as well as to keep the beaches beautiful and clean.

Dreamer Dee is a lover of nature, and why he surrounds himself around it. An optimist, Dee hopes for a sustainable future preserved by tourists today.

Little Lyn is said to forage the rich resources of nature and eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is hoped that Lyn will nudge people to pause and appreciate the thriving biodiversity that can be found around them.

Reef the Chief, who is the leader of the Explorers, is a craftsman who takes plastic trash and recycles it into beautiful treasures.

The giants are also accompanied by various plastic flowers and animals upcycled from discarded materials like bottle caps, clothes hangers and plastic spoons sourced from Sentosa and other parts of Singapore.