Lavett Ballard debuts her first solo exhibition at STELLA JONES GALLERY with a wonderfully cohesive presentation of works. Ballard breathes new life into our collective American stories, awakening a curiosity to expand our knowledge of ancestral heroes and heroines. She offers historical context to her collages, using photographs, newspaper clippings, and repurposed wooden fencing as her canvas. The fence is a symbol of divide, not unlike how racial and gender identities can be used to divide us.

Ballard has been commissioned twice as a cover for Time Magazine. First in March 2020 for their special multi-cover edition for the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage, and in February 2023 accompanying Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s essay about her book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

When choosing a title for this exhibition, Ballard felt that too much Sweet isn’t good for you, therefore this exhibition plays with the idea of balance by exploring beauty and cultural and historical themes that embody the ‘Sweet.’ The artist then overlaid abstract patterns, marks, and colors that animate figures within their own narratives. Much like a chef, Ballard offers balance to the visual feast by giving a ‘Bitter’ taste of the ‘ugly’ to each subject. 

Ballard’s work can be found in private collections, including author Roxanne Gay, actor Hill Harper, Grant & Tamia Hill, and the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection. Her work has been placed with the Francis M. Maguire Museum, the African American Museum of Philadelphia, the Colored Girls Museum, the U.S. Art in the Embassies, St Joseph’s University, Syracuse Universities- Community Folk Arts Center, and Jule Collins Smith Fine Art Museum at Auburn University Collections, among others.