Mimi Herbert: Celebrating 50 Years of Flags 1974-2024

For 50 years, Mimi Herbert has explored the powerful emblem of the flag. Her formed flags reinterpret this patriotic symbol to transcend its traditional meaning  — challenging viewers to explore the flag’s role as a visual symbol. 

Moved by her experiences of war while living abroad, Herbert found inspiration in the flag in the 1970s. As the U.S. Bicentennial approached, Herbert created her first folded flag sculptures in 1974, exhibited at the Henri Gallery the following year. This solo show led to a commission by the Corcoran Gallery of Art — a stunning 165-foot-long American flag pennant that spanned the 17th Street façade of the museum in 1976.

Over the decades, Herbert has remained dedicated to the flag’s magnetic appeal. In 2016, she introduced silkscreening to her sculptural process — printing the imagery directly onto flat sheets of acrylic. With this complex process, Herbert achieved her signature folds while maintaining the vividly graphic printed imagery. In this way, these emblematic symbols can be reduced to form and color, reimagining their conventional associations.

Herbert’s fascination with the flag evolved to reflect deeply relevant themes and motifs. Her 2017 19th Amendment pays homage to freedom, equality and empowerment by celebrating womens’ right to vote. Broadening the theme of the American flag, Herbert experimented with other symbols of identity, pride and community. Today, 50 years later, she returns to the American flag as a gesture of optimism.