Reckonings with Unconsciousness

Reckonings with Unconsciousness is an evolving watercolor series by Teresa Mandala, currently comprising 25 paintings and continuing to grow, that asks what ancestral knowledge, memory, and connection to the natural world have been forgotten, and what still lives beneath the surface of consciousness.

Drawing from encounters across landscapes, histories, and lived experience, the work considers how disconnection from the living world shapes human understanding of self and one another. Figures, animals, and landscapes merge into symbolic narratives that invite contemplation rather than certainty, tracing the invisible threads that connect humanity with ancestral wisdom, the spiritual realm, and the natural world.

The series began during a six-month residency in Mérida, Yucatán and continues to evolve through Central America. Each painting becomes another conversation in an unfolding inquiry that asks not only what has been lost, but what may still be remembered.