The phrase "surface illusion" is correct and usable in written English
It can be used to describe a deceptive appearance or a superficial understanding of a situation.
Example: "The painting created a surface illusion of depth, but upon closer inspection, it was quite flat."
Alternatives: "superficial facade" or "shallow appearance."
At the opposite extreme, Thomas Lendavi strips away surface illusion in an untitled arrangement of I-beams emerging from the lawn, setting up a nice contrast between the regularity of industrial metal and the natural pattern of the surrounding grass.
Internal control systems in Chinese organisations outwardly reflect traditions of obedience, but various forms of accommodation serve to weaken the surface illusion of docility.
These sad, inner truths will therefore attract critical, often narcissistic partners and a superficial life that mirrors these deeper beliefs, regardless of the surface illusion.
At first these paintings seem too similar, but each has its own angling of planes and divisions and bit of sub-surface illusion.
At any rate, it gets you wondering about ideas of surface and illusion, a popular theme for artists in this show, including Eva Schlegel, whose blurred photographs of young women, based on pictures in fashion magazines, are ethereal and lovely.
Leong, who studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, is interested in how three-dimensional space translates onto a two-dimensional surface — an illusion that is achieved by the horizon line.
This creates a tension and a sense of ambiguity between the actual surface and the illusion of depth.
Mr. Sarkisian's "Blue Boiling in Pail" is a Tony Orsler-like projection of bubbling liquid onto a hard plastic surface, creating the illusion of movement.
When each archer fires his dummy arrow, a matching "arrow" is propelled out of the walls's surface, giving the illusion that it has hit its target.
Slick rivulets of oily dark-hued paint drips across a spinning record as light reflects off the vinyl surface, creating the illusion of a psychedelic black-and-white pattern.
According to the Prada campaign's press release on Instagram, the images, shot by Craig McDean, play with "surface and depth, illusion and reality," with Redmayne, "assum[ing] a number of roles – hero, villain, [and] revolutionary".
