Upside-down Mountains is an artwork situated in the foyer of the Northside Civic Centre, Coolock, Dublin installed in 2003, this work consists of two landscapes, one in blue neon and the other painted on the wall opposite.

The landscapes are based on drawings of Connemara by George Petrie (1790-1866) engravings of his work were used to illustrate guidebooks to Ireland published in the 1820s when tourism first became a feature of Irish life and economy. Some of Petrie's drawings have been turned upside-down transforming them into reflections and suggested valleys, while the blue light of the neon opposite animates the wall painting. This work explores ideas of abstraction and representation juxtaposed as symbols of Irish society.

Upside-down Mountains was also part of a collaborative project with Peter Murray and was exhibited as an installation in the Research and Process room at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork for the 'George Petrie' exhibition 2004. The installation consisted of a painted mural, video, photographs, reproductions of prints, photocopied research documents and an interactive area. The video and photographs follow a revisiting of the sites in Connemara that the artist made drawings of in the 19th century.

Also see Videos In Search of Petrie 2004

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