Finlay was born and grew up in Sydney, and is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).
[1] She began her career as an actor who played notable roles in television soap operas – Lucy Dunlop in The Young Doctors, Elizabeth Drysdale in Taurus Rising, Lainie Dobson in Prisoner and Laura Banning in Sons and Daughters.
In 2006 her portrait of Hugo Weaving was hung in the Archibald Prize Salon des Refusés.
In 2018 she was an Archibald Prize finalist for her portrait of Peter and Susan O'Doherty, and their cat Coco.
Finlay is also the subject of a portrait by Zamel which was a finalist in the 2016 Portia Geach Memorial Award.