The Uncertainty Series of text works is an ongoing body of work that reveals the doubts I experience during my art-making. I give solid form to these meandering and often contradictory thoughts by mimicking the 'track changes' function in word processing programs. Several of these works take the form of large vinyl installations. In other words, these are troubled thoughts writ large.

Prof Michael Corris describes the Uncertainty Series as 'the story of authority rebuked, of certainty suspended, of an internal dialogue made manifest in the world . . . In one work, viewers find the sentence: "I don't often believe my end-result is driven by my original idea." As they stumble through strike-throughs, lose their way and retrace their steps, a conflicting sentence emerges: "I always have a clear idea that drives my practice." . . . We read phrases that are, so to speak, false starts. We trip over ourselves, and in so doing rehearse Charnock's 'uncertainty.' 1

This search for clarity takes time and, in the latest development in my practice, I decided to make paintings - because time is encoded in the act of painting itself. Furthermore, the painted surface complicates and hinders the process of reading. Within the text of this latest work, I question my decision to paint; I worry that I'll fail, that I'll mislay my thoughts in translating them into words . . . while stealing myself to state: "I'm sure I can reinforce my idea through the act of painting."

Together with my earlier text-based works, the Uncertainty Series reflects a long-standing interest in the opacity and indeterminacy of inscribed language. There is, of course, a long tradition of art in language. I was once a practising journalist and I have perhaps naturally gravitated towards this field of practice.

1 Michael Corris, "Rethinking Writing: Anne Charnock and the Art of Language" in Certainty Suspended, Castlefield Gallery Publications. September 2008.