The phrase 'express a longing for' is correct and can be used in written English.
It is often used to express a desire or wish for something. For example, "The film captures the essence of humanity and expresses a longing for a better world."
In the context of China's crackdown on cultural expression, Ms. Cao's juvenilia seems to express a longing for some basic adult freedoms.
Some artists selected for the show in Hunterdon also play on sentimentality, using childhood imagery to express a longing for a time of innocence, simplicity and purity.
There is not even unanimity on the superiority of Judeo-Christian culture: some European nationalists express a longing for ancient pagan practices.
But in the context of China's crackdown on cultural expression — the artist Ai Weiwei is still in government custody — Ms. Cao's juvenilia seems to express a longing for some basic adult freedoms.
But activists also express a longing for others to step off the sidelines, including Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Budget Committee.
Staprans is able to evoke a great sadness in his objects, which express a longing for and a rumination of the past, despite the beautiful light which embraces them.
Several expressed a longing for the kind of oversight and assistance the state offers, and were eager to talk shop.
Based on exquisitely perceived sense impressions, the imagery in these poems expresses a longing for sensual union with the natural world.
Kandahar's residents today expressed a longing for peace and high hopes for Mr. Karzai and a new goal of national unity.
While Ms. Opie may bristle at the word "normal," she has created a domestic ideal that she expressed a longing for in her earliest self-portrait.
