Ilana Harris-Babou's work is interdisciplinary; spanning sculpture and installation, and grounded in video. She speaks the aspirational language of consumer culture, using humor as a means to digest painful realities.

Her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions throughout the US and Europe, including recent exhibitions Needy Machines at Candice Madey and Under My Feet at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. In May 2023, Harris Babou's work Liquid Gold took over the screens of Times Square for the Midnight Moment program. She has been included in the Istanbul Design Biennial (2020) and The Whitney Biennial (2019).

Her work is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Wellcome Collection, & Electronic Arts Intermix. Her work has been reviewed in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Artforum, e-flux, Sculpture Magazine, and Art in America, among others.

Before coming to Wesleyan, She taught video and sculpture at Williams College. She has also taught courses at Virginia Commonwealth University, Bennington College, the School of Visual Arts, and the Ox Bow School of Art, among others.