▁re - enter ed ▁Michael is , ▁register ing ▁for ▁the ▁master ' s ▁degree ▁in ▁sculpt ure ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 2 . ▁While ▁this ▁was ▁clearly ▁a ▁valuable ▁time ▁for ▁accum ulating ▁technical ▁expert ise ▁and ▁cons olid ating ▁an ▁aff inity ▁for ▁the ▁three - dimensional ▁form - something ▁that ▁is ▁still ▁visible ▁in ▁her ▁phot ographic ▁works ▁today - the ▁search ▁for ▁both ▁form ▁and ▁content ▁continued . ▁Her ▁body ▁of ▁work ▁presented ▁for ▁the ▁master ' s ▁degree ▁in ▁fine ▁art ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 5 ▁shows ▁abstract , ▁vol umin ous ▁structures ▁in ▁c ement , ▁c iment ▁fon du , ▁steel , ▁wire , ▁bronze , ▁and ▁glass ▁that ▁seem ▁somehow ▁incon gru ous ▁with ▁the ▁much ▁more ▁int imate ▁and ▁lyr ical ▁works ▁by ▁which ▁S ear le ▁is ▁recognized ▁today . ▁Cre ated ▁a ▁year ▁after ▁the ▁first ▁dem ocr atic ▁elections , ▁these ▁works ▁were ▁meant ▁to ▁question ▁eu ph or ic ▁ide als ▁of ▁nation hood ▁and ▁nation ▁building ▁in ▁a ▁lex icon ▁strongly ▁medi ated , ▁even ▁reg ulated , ▁by ▁context ▁and ▁instruction . ▁ ▁Work ▁ ▁Bern i ▁S ear le ▁util izes ▁large ▁scale ▁digital ▁phot ographic ▁prints , ▁found ▁materials , ▁and ▁time - based ▁media ▁such ▁as ▁film ▁to ▁capture ▁her ▁work . ▁S ear le ' s ▁work ▁en comp ass es ▁perform ative ▁narr atives ▁and ▁the ▁self ▁as ▁a ▁figure ▁to ▁em body ▁history , ▁land - memory ▁and ▁place .