Poly Kanistra was born in Piraeus. She studied at the School of Graphic Arts of the Doxiadis School of Fine Arts from 1971 to 1974, under the sculptors Giannis Parmakelis and Giorgos Georgiadis and the painters Maria Spentza, Takis Katsoulidis, Dimitris Mytaras and Petros Zoumboulakis. She has held 11 solo exhibitions in Greece and Germany and participated in 62 group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. In 2019, she received the NAIWA Grand Prix in Bratislava, while in 1988 she was awarded a commendation in the Panhellenic Poster Competition organized by the Committee of Communities. She is a member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece (EETE). Her artistic practice encompasses painting, sculpture, jewellery making, book illustration and poster design.