Trained as a musician at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Vera Chaves later studied art at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and at Central Saint Martins College of Art, both in London, at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, The Hague, and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris. She has lived in Barcelona and Porto Alegre since 1986, acting as a cultural bridge between Spain and Brazil. The use of photography led her to a more conceptual type of work, fusing woodcut and silk-screen printing. In the late 1970s, Chaves discovered how creative creation and ephemeral and performative practices could transform her way of working. She was a founder member of Nervo Óptico (1976–78), a collective based in Porto Alegre that was opposed to the art system. They practised the so-called 'Continuous Activities', a way of working and exhibiting collectively, as well as organising debates and public actions. Together with another eight artists, from 1979 to 1982 she created Espaço N.O., an alternative cultural centre, also in Porto Alegre, that soon became a national referent. Although her own work includes a variety of practices (installation, multimedia, intervened photography and painting similar to Pop), her main interest lies in collective projects based on performance and Action art. Chaves conceives the human body as a landscape, establishing symbiotic links with the natural environment and highlighting narratives that have been historically marginalised.

Chaves has had numerous exhibitions in America, Asia and Europe. She was part of a group of artists representing Brazil at the 1976 Venice Biennale, has participated in numerous editions of the Sâo Paulo Biennial and took part in the Mercosur Biennial of Visual Arts, 2005. Major retrospectives were held at the Santander Cultural de Porto Alegre, 2007, and at the Museo de Arte de Sâo Paulo, 2009. Her work is included in the collections of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Pinacoteca de Sâo Paulo; Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres; Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de Sâo Paulo; Museu de Arte Moderna, Sâo Paulo; and MACBA, Barcelona, among others.