Chakra Totem

This is a sculpture I had to do last year for my sculpture semester.
we had to construct a totem which relate to ourselves and were we came from. Because Reiki brought about a strong change in me, i chose to base it around the 5 Reiki principles and 7 chakras.

when i submitted it, it was fully varnished, which the lecturers didnt like because the totem faded into the background. they said i should have left the plaster white and unvarnished because it stood out a lot more and had stronger presence. so what i have done now is roughly sand off the varnish so that it has a weathered look to it, as though dug up from ancient times.
i have to reconstruct the base, then it will be ready for an exhibition a friend and i are planning for this year.

the totem is at the core, a 2.4meter tall gum pole, wrapped with hessian and rope, then layered with plaster which i carved text and the chakra symbols into.