Artist Information
Stephen Rice (Mi Yichen, 米翊宸), MFA
My English name is Stephen Rice. My Chinese name, Mi Yichen (米翊宸), was given to me by the mother of my first Chinese-language tutor. She asked for the exact time and date of my birth and brought it to a fortune teller, who said the name Yichen would bring fortune. She explained that it meant Family Hero, someone who uplifts others. The name is something I pray I can live up to.
I was born in Yakima, Washington, and my journey as an artist has been shaped by both home and far away. After earning degrees in multimedia design and fine arts in San Diego, I moved to Beijing to pursue a master’s in Traditional Chinese Painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, becoming the first non-Asian graduate of the Chinese Painting College.
After fifteen years in China, I returned to Yakima, where my work has grown more personal and reflective. Each painting begins as a confession—an attempt to make peace with experience. My art often carries two layers of meaning: the visible story that speaks to anyone who looks, and a private one that only those close to me might fully understand. Through the discipline of traditional Chinese technique and the honesty of self-examination, I try to create moments where vulnerability and beauty coexist.
History and Education
- 1968 Born in Yakima, Washington, USA
- 2000 A.A.S. Associate Degree in Multimedia Design, Plant College, San Diego, USA
- 2006 B.A. Bachelor of Fine Arts, Studio Arts, San Diego State University, San Diego, USA
- 2010 M.F.A. China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Fineline Figurative Painting, Beijing, China
Exhibitions
- 2025 Central Washington Artist Exhibition, Larson Gallery, Yakima, WA
- 2025 Central Washington State Fair, Yakima, WA, (2nd place, Professional div., watercolor)
- 2025 Larson Gallery Guild Members’ Exhibition, Yakima, WA
- 2011 Shui Ling Lan Gallery, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China
- 2010 A Journey of a Thousand Miles—2010 Central Academy of Fine Arts Graduates Excellent Works Exhibition, Beijing, China
- 2010 CUVE 2nd Chun Li Auction Exhibition, Space DA Gallery, Beijing, China
- 2008 Together – Together, Korea Cultural Center in China, Beijing, China
- 2007 CNAP 07, Dr. Gallery, Distillery International Art Park, Beijing, China
- 2005 "Self-Archaeology" Solo Exhibition, Anhui University Library Exhibition, Anhui, China
- 2004 Elite Student Art Exhibition, San Diego State University, USA