Draft:Michael Pierre Price

Michael Pierre Price is a techspressionist artist born on November 27, 1954, in Hammond, Indiana. He currently lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona. Price's work explores the connections between physics, neuroscience, and spirituality. After a successful career in game design, Price shifted his focus to fine art in 2010. Price's art has been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions across the United States. His works have garnered critical acclaim for their innovative approach and aesthetics.

Price's background is eclectic in many ways, including his diverse ethnicity and career path. The artist claims of Native American and French heritage, has led him to explore the spirituality of his Ojibway ancestry, pursuing studies with tribal elders in Canada. His work is also informed with his science background, which includes physics studies at Purdue University and astrophysics research at the University of Toledo. His 30-year career as a game designer has also been an influence on his artistic output.

Early life and education
Price and his younger brother Patrick Lucien Price were raised by their mother and grandmother, both of whom had experienced Nazi occupation in the south of France during World War II.

At the age of two Price's parents divorced, and he never knew his father. He described his childhood as magical, yet at the time it felt unremarkable to him, except for the fact that being raised by two women was outside the norm in the late '50s and early '60s. Part of that childhood magic he fondly remembers were the times he and his brother would create their own games; making the game boards, designing the rules, drawing up the artwork, and finally playing their creations. Price grew up bilingual because his grandmother spoke French more fluently than English.

Price earned a physics degree from Purdue University, which served as a springboard for his enrollment in the PhD program at the University of Toledo. He pursued a doctorate in astrophysics for three years and co-authored a paper titled Nonrelativistic contribution to Mercury's perihelion precession, which was published in The American Journal of Physics. However, Price left the doctoral program when his thesis advisor departed from the university, leading to a major life change. Price has noted that, in retrospect, his interest in physics was based more upon his quest for understanding as a theoretician rather than the pursuit of an academic career.

Game design
In 1980 Price embarked on his 30-year career in game design, when he became one of the first game designers hired by TSR, Inc. While there, Price helped further develop the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, along with a variety of other highly successful game products.

Price designed the 1981 board game They've Invaded Pleasantville for TSR. Price wrote the Gamma World tabletop role-playing game adventures GW2, Famine in Far-Go (1982) and GW3, The Cleansing War of Garik Blackhand (1983).

Leveraging the experience gained with 3D immersive entertainment, he became one of the founders of a startup game-development company, Indigo Moon Productions, in 1995. As chief creative officer he helped Indigo Moon design and produce PC game titles and demos for Interplay, AOL, Kesmai, Mattel, Sega, Hasbro, and WildTangent. Under his leadership, he helped the multi-million dollar company grow to a dozen employees, developing the following over six years: Shadoan, Dragon Dice, USCF Chess, Track Racer, and the multiplayer online game Fierce Harmony.

Art career
In 2010 Price decided to leave the gaming industry behind and create as a Techspressionist artist. Combining his technical expertise with his personal artistic vision, he began creating artworks.

In late summer 2020, during the height of the global pandemic, a new art movement called Techspressionism was born from the eponymous technology-based artist community. Price received an invitation through Instagram from founding member Colin Goldberg to join this nascent movement and community. Price was in attendance at Salon# 8, held on January 5, 2021, which was the first Techspressionist Salon that was recorded and published on YouTube

Price became a member of the Five15 Arts collective in Phoenix in 2020 and began having solo exhibitions of his surral and abstract digital artwork of fractals and algorithms, reflecting math, physics and astronomy.

As the movement took hold and the community grew internationally, Price's participation and role as a Techspressionist artist also grew. He became a leading member of the Techspressionism community, presenting his artwork at more than 10 artist salons and moderating a number of them as well. He has been a featured speaker several times, including the artist salon on the topic of art and physics. Price has been interviewed for the Techspressionist Interview Series and has conducted several interviews of prominent fellow artists. He also led a Techspressionism Roundtable discussion with fellow artists Roz Dimon, Renata Janiszewska and Tommy Mintz.

Price has shown his artwork in techspressionism 2021, the movement's first large-scale online exhibition, curated by Colin Goldberg and Patrick Lichty, which was included in The Wrong Biennale.

Price's artwork From The Light And Flow Of No-Mind was exhibited in the inaugural international Techspressionism: Digital And Beyond exhibition at the Southampton Arts Center, NY in 2022. This work was one of several that were featured in articles published about the exhibit and the exhibition catalogue

In 2023, Price was part of a team of four Techspressionist curators that developed and produced the first 3D group art space, called Cyberiana, for the Techspressionism community. His own gallery space within Cyberiana was dedicated to his planned art book project, Call Me Ishmael.

Artistic influences
Despite his upbringing in an industrial environment, situated between Gary and Chicago, he was inspired at an early age by his maternal grandmother's affinity for gardening and nature.

Price uses digital tools and techniques to create his artworks. He embraces the use of computer software, algorithms, and coding to generate intricate patterns, textures, and visual effects. His works often reflect themes of connectivity, artificial intelligence, and the intersection of physics, neuroscience, and spirituality.

Publications
Nonrelativistic contribution to Mercury's perihelion precession.