Talia Levitt: art and early motherhoodCEFR B1
16 Nov 2025
Adapted from Omid Memarian, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Julia Taubitz, Unsplash
New York artist Talia Levitt explored early motherhood in an exhibition titled "24/7." The show began when the boundary between caregiving and studio work disappeared; Levitt has said she was "painting in bed with my daughter." The paintings respond to overlapping rhythms of urgency, exhaustion, elation and tenderness that followed her change in routine.
Levitt mixes everyday domestic objects with rigorous art-historical techniques. Pacifiers, baby clothes and childhood jewelry boxes appear alongside fruit, flowers and candles. Many works use trompe-l'oeil illusion and textile-like patterns. She builds what she calls visual diaries with scored grids, piped paint, sequins and cast acrylic embellishments.
Her practice connects to Dutch still life painting, feminist pattern-and-decoration movements, and craft traditions. In 2023 she produced a project called "Schmatta" (Uffner Liu) about New York's garment industry. "24/7" will travel next to the K11 Art Foundation in Shanghai.
Difficult words
- exhibition — a public showing of art or other items'24/7'
- artistic — related to the creation of artartist, art
- process — a series of actions to create something
- techniques — methods or ways of doing something
- experience — knowledge gained from doing or seeing
- themes — main ideas or subjects in a work
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How do personal experiences influence artistic expression?
- In what ways can art challenge traditional ideas?
- Why is it important to connect everyday life with fine art?
