Sydney’s innovative Dreambox Collective has created a moving digital experience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing together music, poetry and art. Nightlightis part graphic novel, part audio book, part musical experience – and it’s beautifully realised, taking the reader on a nocturnal journey shot through with melancholy. Dreambox Artistic Director – and poet – Chloe Chung and composer Carlo Antonioli share how the project took shape.

Dreambox Collective's Nightlight Sandra Brand’s artwork from Dreambox Collective’s Nightlight

How did the idea for Nightlightfirst come together?

Chloe Chung:Last year, our visual artist Sandra Brand showed me a set of illustrations she created whilst recovering from mental illness in hospital, featuring a character she was obsessed with drawing who kept her company when she had trouble sleeping at night. It so happened that I was also writing bits and pieces of poetry when I couldn’t sleep at night, but we didn’t put two and two together until lockdown earlier this year when we realised that our secret night-creations could be fused together!

What did you hope to convey through...