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A large-scale wall sculpture made of black geometric panels. Glowing green lines form a complex, architectural wireframe drawing across the surface.

Pick your jaw off the floor and marvel at Damien Gilley's trompe l'œil brilliance

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Date
30 April 2013

We love a pleasant artistic bamboozle and Portland-based Damien Gilley is our new favourite head spinner. The Oregonian (is that even a word?) is a master of the trompe l’œil using vinyl and latex to crate mind-meltingly fascinating works which leap off the wall and immerse you in what feel like architect’s blueprints or some kind of Matrix-style code.

Just to keep us on our toes he does work with 3D materials occasionally, but it’s these extraordinary flat pieces which really dropped our jaws.

A 3D render of a complex, architectural landscape made of glowing neon green lines on a black background. The geometric shapes create a sense of depth, resembling a digital city or a futuristic circuit board.
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Damien Gilley: Keller Fortress (detail)

A large wall drawing of a complex architectural structure in brown lines. The geometric sketch wraps around a corner of a white room under a dark wooden ceiling.
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Damien Gilley: 1 + 1 = 1

A linear drawing in rust-orange ink on a white background. The composition consists of overlapping geometric shapes and thin lines that suggest an abstract architectural structure.
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Damien Gilley: 1 + 1 = 1 (detail)

A large-scale wall drawing in white line on a bright blue background. The intricate, architectural lines create a distorted perspective of a city street.
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Damien Gilley: Plus Minus

A white line illustration on a bright blue background. The drawing uses architectural, wireframe lines to suggest a complex interior space with the outlines of figures.
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Damien Gilley: Plus Minus (detail)

A blue illustration featuring a complex network of white line drawings. The geometric shapes suggest an architectural scene or a city map.
Above

Damien Gilley: Plus Minus (detail)

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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