Somewhere between a field journal, a secrets tome, and a magical compendium, The Official Player's Strategy Guide to the Enchanted Circle of Northern New Mexico is exactly what it sounds like: a player's guide — but for the high desert of New Mexico. Inside you'll find hand-drawn maps, native plant studies, a bestiary, recipes to trade, and quests that coax you into the obscure.
Creators Gage Fernandez and Madison Ortega have been making things together for 16 years, formulating a shared creative language and perspective that blends the whimsical and the all too real experiences of life in a rural community. They grew up wandering Taos’ Montes together, messing with tourists, traversing mesas, and filling sketchbooks. But this book wasn't born from some romantic vision of the mountains. It came from watching the place they grew up changing, rapidly. From a realization the community they knew was being rewritten. They built worlds within worlds and let the mystical and absurd take center stage.
This book is what season after season of collecting and curating added up to. A guidebook for the newly arrived adventurer and the seasoned local alike. An invitation to reimagine the familiar and maybe tap into something deeper, if you're willing.
This book marks the 5th year of Risolana’s Artist-in-Residence program. The residency provides artists with hands-on support for learning how to use the risograph machine as well as design, creative, and logistical support when considering a book as an art form. The residency culminates with a final exhibition as well as a free risograph community workshop led by the artists-in-residence.
All proceeds from the purchase of this book go towards supporting this and future residencies!
Somewhere between a field journal, a secrets tome, and a magical compendium, The Official Player's Strategy Guide to the Enchanted Circle of Northern New Mexico is exactly what it sounds like: a player's guide — but for the high desert of New Mexico. Inside you'll find hand-drawn maps, native plant studies, a bestiary, recipes to trade, and quests that coax you into the obscure.
Creators Gage Fernandez and Madison Ortega have been making things together for 16 years, formulating a shared creative language and perspective that blends the whimsical and the all too real experiences of life in a rural community. They grew up wandering Taos’ Montes together, messing with tourists, traversing mesas, and filling sketchbooks. But this book wasn't born from some romantic vision of the mountains. It came from watching the place they grew up changing, rapidly. From a realization the community they knew was being rewritten. They built worlds within worlds and let the mystical and absurd take center stage.
This book is what season after season of collecting and curating added up to. A guidebook for the newly arrived adventurer and the seasoned local alike. An invitation to reimagine the familiar and maybe tap into something deeper, if you're willing.
This book marks the 5th year of Risolana’s Artist-in-Residence program. The residency provides artists with hands-on support for learning how to use the risograph machine as well as design, creative, and logistical support when considering a book as an art form. The residency culminates with a final exhibition as well as a free risograph community workshop led by the artists-in-residence.
All proceeds from the purchase of this book go towards supporting this and future residencies!
