Ma Mingze focuses on urban life in her oil paintings now on show in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The work shows a girl who gazes at the sea and a magpie standing on its head.

"The magpie is seen as an auspicious bird in Chinese culture, a symbol of good wishes.

"In the painting, I have it looking in a different direction, meaning that reality is often not as perfect as one anticipates. Sometimes it leads to embarrassing situations."

Still, Ma embraces hope in her works.

In Silver Linings, a work done after she saw the 2012 American romance Silver Linings Playbook, she is impressed by the title derived from the idiom, "Every cloud has a silver lining."

The painting shows a dark room in which sunlight sneaks in through the narrow gap between the door and the floor.

She says viewers can imagine themselves being someone who returns to an apartment after a hard day's work.

"The head is lowered because of fatigue, but then you see light and feel relieved.

"In the darkness around us, there is the light of hope."