Simon Jenkins, Journalist and Author writes about The Journey in his book Englands Cathedrals 2016
‘Paintings by Penny Warden lining the nave depict Christ’s ‘agony, trials, suffering and death’. These are brittle, uncomforting images, although they give the cathedral an undeniably aesthetic potency.’
Nicola Currie writes in Anglican-Episcopal World (Trinity 2005)
‘In these extraordinary paintings the viewer is free to engage with the image and, through their sense of movement, invited in to join with Christ’s journey. The theologian John Macquarrie speaks of art as: “Something like a revelation. What is revealed has been there all the time, but it has gone unnoticed in our humdrum everyday experience. It needs the sensitivity of the artist to bring it to light, so we notice things for the first time.” Penny Warden’s pictures are both striking and sensitive, encouraging the viewer to notice what she has seen. By exploring a traditional subject in a radical and contemporary way she presents the familiar to a Christian audience in an unfamiliar way and engages with believers and non-believers alike.’
Desmund Tutu
‘Wonderfully creative – The Journey has such considerable healing potential.’
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
‘Outstanding and very moving work. I hope it will speak too many.’
Canon Andrew Clitherow
‘This major and permanent exhibition of modern art is the most adventurous of its kind in any English cathedral. This extraordinary exhibition will be seen by generations come.’
Rt Rev Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham
‘Remarkable.’
Very Rev Christopher Armstrong, Dean of Blackburn
‘The Stations will be of national significance and compliment the already impressive stock of modern art at the Cathedral. They will assist the Cathedral in its missionary mandate to tell the story of Christ’s last few hours to a puzzled and agnostic generation. I am convinced Penny Warden’s unique approach will help us continue this work very effectively, for these ‘Stations’ engage with people where they are, in all the conflicts and sorrows which life brings in the 21st Century.’