I was born in 1945 in Monor. My father was a Romani musician, and my mother came from a family of Beash Romani bowl-menders. Due to the constant feuds between the two families—stemming from their different backgrounds and lifestyles—my childhood was spent in perpetual wandering. I lived with my mother, moving back and forth between Monor and my maternal grandparents in Mogyoród. I dropped out of school in the 6th grade and only finished primary school as a married woman. At nineteen, I married a Hungarian boy; my mother-in-law opposed the union so fiercely that my mother passed away without ever meeting her. In 1967, my daughter was born. She graduated from an economic vocational secondary school and was a successful competitive sport shooter. For almost my entire life, I worked as a cleaner—first as a domestic worker, and later as an independent entrepreneur. We built a house, later traded it, and moved to Budapest.

Throughout my life, I have suffered through several serious illnesses. Despite my persistent complaints, doctors were late in diagnosing my tumors. I underwent surgery multiple times. I began painting in 1988, during one of these critical periods of my life, following my mother’s sudden death. I was experiencing fatal migraines. On one such day, I asked my young daughter for paper and a pencil because I felt an overwhelming urge to draw. That was the beginning of my art: by the time I finished the picture—a portrait of Sophia Loren—my migraine had vanished as if it had never existed. My relatives thought I was a fool for painting. I have since painted over a hundred pictures. I gave most of them away, keeping only one: the one depicting my eye surgery. In November 1991, I took this painting to the National Gallery to ask for their opinion on whether I should continue painting. The experts encouraged me to keep working. Following this, I began receiving invitations to various exhibitions.

In the summer of 1992, the Roma Methodological Center invited me to the Roma Fine Arts Workshop in Balatonalmádi. That same year, I organized a group exhibition in Monor at my cousin’s restaurant, which was opened by the Minister of Defense at the time, Lajos Für. This remains a vivid memory because my acquaintances had said they would 'eat their hats' if a minister ever showed up at Mara’s exhibition. Not only did he attend, but my subsequent solo exhibitions were opened by ministers, secretaries of state, and famous painters. Even the American Ambassador honored me with his presence when I opened the first Romani private gallery in Hungary in my own apartment in 1993.

In 1995, I opened a gallery next to my home, and the Soros Foundation supported my work. I have had a great many exhibitions. My works have been featured in group exhibitions at the Budapest Gallery (1994), the János Balázs Gallery (1993), and the II. Festival of European Minorities in Baja (1994).