‘You cannot find peace by avoiding life’ is a new audiovisual piece by Claire Todd. It is a journey through the seasons and the debilitating pain of Claire relinquishing the biggest love of her life, and its intrinsic relationship with the loss of her mother.  It’s a story of facing truths; drawing on parallels in nature, the course of things, and how time, place and people can salve deep wounds.

It was originally a written piece submitted to her local community magazine, which was ushered into life in December 2023 by a neighbour, who suggested Claire write something for the Spring 2024 edition.  It was then recreated in March 2024, through spoken word and a series of filmed images and field recordings, collected locally, with a choral section accompaniment taken from a musical piece called ‘Music for Photons’ — an early and somewhat naive piece that was composed in 2021 in tribute to that love.

The title of the piece is based on a false quote attributed to Virgina Woolf.  The line is often cited as Woolf’s but is, in fact, a line from the film about Woolf’s life, The Hours.  Yet whilst there is a falseness in its origin, there is truth in its meaning.

Watch below.

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Film, words, and sound by Claire Todd. See her previous work here.