Hannah Townsend's beautiful face glows blue in the light of her iPhone in a portrait her artist father Ross calls his "best yet".
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"I'm really happy with it," he said.
Perhaps it was the close relationship between subject and artist or the theme - being alone but connected - that resonated.
But for whatever reason, Ross Townsend's portrait Social Event has landed him in the big time, one of the 30 finalists in the prestigious, and lucrative, Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.
Belconnen Arts Centre has scored a coup by hosting the portrait prize exhibition, the first time it has come to Canberra.
The prize, billed as Australia's richest art competition, is funded by the philanthropic Moran Arts Foundation which was established by the late nursing home mogul, Doug Moran.
The first prize of $150,000 means it attracts plenty of entries - more than 1000 for the 2016 prize.
Thirty finalists were chosen for a travelling exhibition which is now touring Australia, and in Canberra for the next month.
Megan Seres won the first prize for Scarlett as Colonial Girl, taking home the $150,000. The other finalists received a slightly-less-stonkering $1000 each.
Mr Townsend, of Gordon, is believed to be the only Canberran selected as a finalist. He's been there before, in 2011, with a portrait of Canberra Raiders great, Laurie Daley.
For the latest competition, he painted Hannah, the youngest of his four children, and a 21-year-old psychology student at the University of Canberra.
"It was Hannah's decision to use the phone. She said, 'How about we turn off the light and put the iPhone on?'. And all of a sudden she was bathed in the light of the phone. It was a bit of a eureka moment," he said.
The portrait reflects young people's attachment to their phone but is not necessarily critical of that connection.
"It's called Social Event because they can be on their phone connecting with all these people and organising their social lives, even though they are alone," Mr Townsend said.
After the show finishes touring, Mr Townsend plans to give the portrait to Hannah, who loved the work but admitted "It's just weird to look at my own face".
There is another Canberra connection amongst the finalists: a portrait of the much-loved former director of the National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of Australia, Andrew Sayers, who died in 2015 after a battle with cancer.
The 2016 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize officially opens on Saturday, July 1, and continues until July 23, at the Belconnen Arts Centre.
There will be a free, no-need-to-book Artists in Conversation event at the arts centre on Saturday, July 1 at 11am when the 2016 winner Megan Seres will join Mr Townsend and another finalist, Shane Jones, will speak about their entries and their work.
Entries for the 2017 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize are now open at http://www.moranprizes.com.au/
