Yiota Skarveli was born in Sparta, Greece.
She studied painting at City of London Polytechnic (Sir John Cass School of Art), and continued her studies in fine arts at Byam Shaw School of Art in London, where she produced and developed the abstract expressionist style by which she is known today. She attended the MA course in Fine Arts at Middlesex University under the supervision of John Thomson. This course shaped her current work with reference to time—notably "Now in the Past" and "Presence of Absence". London became her home for two decades, during which she was actively involved in the contemporary art scene.
Yiota Skarveli has presented the following personal exhibitions: Uncanny I, Art Center of the Municipality of Athens – ACMA, Athens (2000); Uncanny II, ArTower Galleries, Athens (2002); Yiota Skarveli, Art Space, 53d Sofokleous Street, Athens (2007); The Book of Hours, Saint George Chapel, Mystras (2007); Votives (Τάματα), Saint George Chapel, Mystras (2008); Happy Days, Municipal Gallery of Psychiko, Athens (2008); Happy Days II, Cultural Center at Sykiki of Plytra, Greece (2008); Votives (Τάματα), National Gallery of Greece, Sparta Branch (2009).