Totem I

Part of the Inner Worlds exhibition at Seventh Circle, Totem I forms part of an evolving series of paintings exploring shifting emotional states through repetition, fragmentation and subtle psychological change.

Originally rooted in portraiture, the work gradually moved beyond likeness into something more unstable and internal. The stacked compositions began to function almost like moving frames, where small shifts in expression, tension and gaze carried emotional weight across the surface.

Created in Birmingham in 2026, the work forms part of the wider Totem series by Emma Woolley.