introduction “Exciting and mysterious are words which could describe the work of Anneke Balvert. Discovery, experiment, stratification, development, surprise and mystery are central to her life and works. A driving force for her is her need to balance order and harmony with chaos. Chaos and destruction invite for transformation and expose layers previously invisible...” By: Veronica Korthof in “Alert, Oog voor Kunst 2003” (a Dutch Art Magazine). Anneke Balvert Was born in Amsterdam. She initially worked as a social worker, providing her clients with both therapeutic interventions and coaching. In 1998 she decided to follow her passion and started working full time in Art. The Development There has always been an affection for paper. The emptiness, the structure, the color. In love with paper ever since kindergarten. First for writing and drawing and later also for printing photographs and home fabrication.en. Then came perception. Photography was a major passion for an extended period of time. Later, a need for experimenting with a myriad of materials grew from which, quite naturally, paintings and collages and (later) Art books emerged. Next to images and dance, a prominent place is taken by both the form and the contents of books. My inspiration is fed by the eternal complementary forces which relentlessly challenge me to find a balance. Chaos and order, energy and rest, light and darkness, distance and proximity, brutality and tenderness. How can one unite these without affecting authenticity? Where these forces meet, tension appears. And this tension creates movement. It touches. I live and work in the Artists’ village of Les Arques (Lot, France) and in Amsterdam. My premises in France once belonged to Ossip Zadkine. Due to its silent atmosphere, it’s a place where one can be fully absorbed into one’s work, surrounded by nature. Amsterdam brings me bustle, culture, the other “outer world”. However, eventually nature prevails. This is reflected by earth-like colors and austerity becoming more and more central to my work.