COVER DESIGN for YING-YING: PIECES OF A CHILDHOOD and YING-YING 2: JASMINE BY THE BAY by LAURA ALBANESE CAIGOY
Laura Albanese Caigoy is a self-taught artist from Chicago. She specializes in paper sculptures, line-drawings, pen and ink, box art and mixed-media constructions, and collages.
Her unique design graces the cover of Ying-Ying Pieces of a Childhood. The publishers were remiss, neglecting to give Laura credit for the unique cover design of the first Ying-Ying book. Laura describes how she created the design: “Jeanne needed a cover that reflected this period relating to life with her mother. I studied some of her very precious items to inspire me, the most impressive being the Chinese costume headdress her mother had made for her. It was so lovely and intricate yet lush, complex and wildly colorful. I barely scratched the surface as far as replicating it into two dimensions. I chose the other extreme of monochromatic and simple cuts, extracting the only features I could recall from the few minutes my eyes were upon it.” Laura cleverly placed a photo of the young girl, cut a door into the headdress, enabling us to peek into her world and her memories.
For Ying-Ying 2: Jasmine by the Bay, I asked for a bridge and light (thinking of the Golden Gate Bridge and perhaps a lighthouse). Laura came up with one of Faustino Caigoy's drawings of Ying-Ying, put flowers in her hand and set her next to a paper sculpted bridge, lantern, leaves and pebbles. It reminded me of San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, inspiring the last scene in the book.
Laura's passing in 2013 was sudden. I miss her creativity, support and friendship--I miss her very much.