Pansum Cheng was born in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China. Soon after his birth his father had to leave for the United States in order to support the family. At the age of seven, Pansum's mother, set on creating a better life for her children, moved to Hong Kong. Finally in 1992 the family reunited in New York where Pansum continued elementary school.

He enrolled in the School of Visual Arts in N.Y. and graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2005. In the following 6 years, he was exhibiting his work while interning at galleries, and working as an artist assistant.

In 2011, he received a Masters of Fine Arts from Queens College with a focus on painting and sculpture. Currently, he lives and works in New York City and is fully immersed in the art community where he has curated exhibitions and participated in site-specific installations in N.Y. as well as Art Basel Miami.