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Steamboat Springs — Christie Ginanni Stepan is watching her concept of home evolve before her eyes.

The California native and three-year Steamboat Springs resident got married in fall, and, through her printmaking and mixed-media art, found herself exploring the physical and emotional manifestations of shelter and comfort.

“My work is kind of a reflection of the exploration of the meaning of my environment, and how it’s shaped my expectations of home, family and space,” she said. “And how does that relate to what the definition of home is?

“For me, the themes are really personal.”

The local artist, who is a dance instructor in Steamboat as well as the owner of Fancy Ink Press, will present her month-long solo art show, “A Snug Place in Which to Rest,” at a reception Saturday.

The event is from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Depot Art Center.

Visitors will have the chance to peruse the 13 works in the front room of the Depot, most of which are mixed media on canvas.

One piece — the last one she made — is a far cry from the rest of her work but settles comfortably into the flow of the show. Stepan experimented for the first time with an installation, in which she suspended a geometric web of red string from the walls and ceiling, offering a three-dimensional insight into her theme of the physical and emotional “home.”

Behind the string, silk scarves painted pastel colors are draped all the way to the floor.

“It was an experiment, and I like it,” she said as she gazed at the final product Wednesday at the Depot. “It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to do it.”

The rest of her work shares in the dichotomous theme of hard-edged, geometric structure and soft pastels. The red string even shows up in her canvas work, interrupting the layered dreamscapes with the projection of structures akin to homes and nests.

Downy birds, flowers and other natural imagery permeate the work, which Stepan said comes from her love of animals, the outdoors and the occasional flower she picks up on a hike.

Park Myers, Steamboat Springs Arts Council program director, said he’s thrilled about the show, especially the added dimension and dual conceptuality of the installation and how it pulls together the entire show.

“One thing is the geometry and structure of it,” Myers said. “Sometimes, artwork with a lot of emotion kind of runs away with it. But the structures really keep it grounded.”

Stepan said the creative process acts as the intersection of creative intuition and reasoning.

She uses spray paint, collages of rice paper, monotype printing and etching and layers the processes upon each other, creating art based on the reality that a home is more than just a structure, and it’s more than just a feeling of comfort.

“A lot of times, too, it’s not the actual space you live in that’s home,” Stepan said. “It’s the people, the animals and the memories.”

— To reach Nicole Inglis, call 970-871-4204 or e-mail ninglis@SteamboatToday.com