The Language of Youth comprises a series of oil paintings Cayetana Conrad made between 2006 & 2007 of her daughter, Helen, and HelenÕs friends following a move from the East Coast to Southern California. These paintings were shown at the Frank Pictures Gallery in Santa MonicaÕs famed Bergamot Station Arts Complex. They brilliantly capture the complexity of youth, itÕs exuberance and its melancholy, awkwardness and grace. Inherent in the paintings are other contradictions and tensions. Is the swimmer being drowned or saved; loved, rescued or assaulted? What lies beneath the reclining figure?