[1][2] Her early childhood years were spent between Santo Domingo and San Juan de la Maguana, where she developed a love for botany, science, and folklore.
[2] When Balcácer was 16, during a parade in San Juan de la Maguana, an accident while riding a horse led to a fractured wrist that later developed gangrene and obliged the doctors to amputate her left arm.
There, she studied under teachers who had emigrated from the war in Europe, such as Josep Gausachs, George Hausdorf, and Manolo Pascual, as well as native Dominican artists, like Celeste Woss y Gil.
[1][2] Motivated to leave the environment of Trujillo dictatorship, Balcácer moved to New York City, shortly after graduating, working as a textile designer.
She joined the group Nueva Imagen (New Image) in 1972 and became interested in the aesthetic possibilities of light and color while exploring tropical Dominican and Caribbean themes.