Lavett Ballard's work focuses on the role of Black women in the US, including the obstacles they have encountered, the achievements they have made, and the memories they have stored. Black women and girls throughout history appear as embodiments of grace, wisdom, and quiet perseverance in Ballard's work, and are depicted as inheritors of our honor and respect. By re-inserting historic photographs into contemporary contexts and hand-embellishing them with a range of materials – metallic foils, abstract prints, burns – Ballard generates new narratives about Black women that bridge past and present.

Lavett Ballard is the first Black woman to have her art featured on the cover of Time Magazine, first in March 2020 for their special multi-cover edition for the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage, and again in February 2023 to honor Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson..