Finlay was born to an English mother and a Scottish father, who worked in life insurance. Her mother encouraged her artistic, creative side. Finlay credits a stay with her grandmother in Winchester during a period of teenage illness as key in her decision to follow a creative path. Finlay studied art at
Cleveland College of Art and Design and then contemporary arts at
Nottingham Trent University. Her first film
Teenland, grew out of making an interactive installation artwork
Home-Maker about the lives of seven housebound, older people living alone, in Derbyshire and Tokyo. ==Career==