"Class" (2012) is one of the most accomplished and charming oil paintings, by rising star Chinese Contemporary female artist Liu Tingting, that belongs to the artist's already iconic series of portraits of young Chinese girls. Here, a young girl sits impatiently in class at her school desk that is stacked with books on either side of her small figure, while she watches a hand-made paper airplane that floats into view. She is depicted in a cartoonish manner with her dark hair in a school girl's headband, luminous blue eyes rimmed with dark lashes, a rosebud mouth, bright pink cheeks and saccharine features. Adding to the narrative here, this young girl wears a mix of traditional Chinese and modern-day clothing, donning a light blue kimono-style top with an intricate animal pattern in white. By depicting this girl as a caricature, Liu is able to discuss the larger, cultural issues of the increasing conflicted desires of the younger generation of women in China to both "grow up" and be adventurous and open about their feelings , while at the same time possessing the desire to "stay young" and innocent, holding on to the conservative traditions of old China.

Liu Tingting (b. 1983, China) is a rising star on the emerging Contemporary art scene in her native China and is gaining world-wide attention. Her work has already been the subject of select Museum and Gallery exhibitions throughout China and The East, most recently in 2011 in the group exhibition, "New Chinese Painting", at The Beijing Times Art Museum Beijing, China. The artist lives and works in Beijing, China.