Mucki Botkay was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1958, where she continues to live and work. A Brazilian contemporary artist, her practice explores the intersections of painting, textile art, embroidery, and material experimentation, drawing inspiration from the natural landscapes and biodiversity of Brazil. After studying decorative arts at the École Supérieure des Ensembliers in Geneva in the late 1970s, Botkay began her career working with fashion, textile design, and fabric printing before gradually developing a distinctive artistic language centered on large-scale compositions meticulously embroidered with glass beads.

Her works transform thousands of individually arranged beads into luminous, richly textured surfaces that oscillate between figuration and abstraction. Inspired by the Atlantic Forest, mangroves, botanical forms, and the coastal landscapes of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, Botkay creates immersive compositions in which color, light, rhythm, and organic structures evoke the vitality of nature. Through variations in the size, orientation, density, and color of the beads, she develops complex visual environments that challenge conventional distinctions between painting, tapestry, mosaic, and embroidery. Her artistic process combines a carefully conceived pictorial vision with the craftsmanship of skilled Brazilian embroiderers, establishing a dialogue between contemporary art, traditional techniques, and collective creative practices.

Her first solo exhibition, Janelas Imaginárias (Imaginary Windows), was presented at Galatea in Salvador, Brazil (2024–2025), curated by Leonel Kaz. In 2026, her work was introduced to American audiences at Frieze Los Angeles by Anat Ebgi, followed by her solo exhibition Imaginary Windows at the gallery in Los Angeles. These presentations have contributed to the growing international visibility of her practice, highlighting her innovative approach to materiality, color, and the relationship between art and nature. Her work reflects a sustained investigation into the expressive possibilities of embroidery, expanding the language of contemporary painting through texture, repetition, and the transformative qualities of light.