A long-time Washington, DC resident, Shi was born in El Salvador to Chinese parents.
His work is influenced by his Latin American upbringing, his Chinese heritage, and his formal education in the United States.
He mixes the bright colors of Central America with the harmony and simplicity of traditional Chinese painting and the boldness found in contemporary American art.
[7] In 2015, one of his paintings was selected for the Designed to Recycle public art program in Washington, DC.
[8] In 2021 he was one of the artists invited to The Phillips Collection's juried invitational, Inside Outside, Upside Down, exhibition, a show that was described by The Washington City Paper art critic as forcing "us to remember a time that left us 'confused, battered, and disoriented' through the eyes of 64 D.C.-area artists.