Cun Shi was born and raised in China until he was nine years old, when he moved to Canada with his family. He showed a keen interest in drawing at an early age, but did not take up painting seriously until the age of nineteen.
Shi returned to Beijing in 2001 and worked as a freelance graphics designer and magazine layout editor for Metrozine. In 2004 he enrolled as a non-degree student in the oil painting department at China Central Academy of Fine Arts. He was accepted as a undergraduate student the following year and would remain there for the next two years.
In 2007 Shi was accepted as a transfer student at The Maryland Institute College of Art, where he currently studies.
