Artist Biography

I have practiced art since childhood. Growing up in China, art was not a compulsory subject, but something I actively chose. After school, I attended Chinese calligraphy and painting classes, and on weekends I joined drawing lessons. During these early years, I learned the foundations of composition, balance, and tonal contrast—principles that continue to shape my practice today.

In 2003, I moved to Australia and encountered a different relationship to art-making—one grounded in freedom, experimentation, and personal expression. This shift profoundly influenced my creative direction. While studying visual art in high school, I was given an assignment to interpret the word “Sublime.” Many works explored religious themes, but my understanding of the sublime was found in nature. I painted a large, detailed moon set against a Gothic castle, using scale and contrast to evoke awe and quiet tension. This painting became my first fully realised work, and from that moment, I knew painting would remain central to my life.

After high school, I formally pursued this path by completing a Diploma of Fine Art / Visual Art at TAFE, where I explored sculpture, digital media, and oil painting. Supported and encouraged by my teachers, I held my first exhibition during this period. I later continued my studies at the University of Queensland, majoring in Visual Art. Over the course of my degree, my practice gradually narrowed and deepened, leading me to focus exclusively on oil painting as my primary medium.

My paintings emerge from time spent noticing rather than seeking—attentive to atmosphere, natural forms, and the quiet relationships between them. Light, colour, and tone are allowed to settle gradually, shaping each work into a cohesive whole. I am interested in the emotional undercurrent of nature—its pauses, contrasts, and subtle shifts—and how these moments invite a sense of connection and calm.

In 2016, with the support of my husband, I established Coco Shi Art. I now work as an independent artist, offering original oil paintings and a limited number of commissions each year. My works are collected privately through my website and selected galleries, and commissions are approached with care, clarity, and intention.

I believe in a slow, considered art practice—one that values depth over volume, meaning over spectacle. Each work is created to be lived with over time, forming a quiet connection between the painting and its collector.