The velvet-flocked gourds that populate "Keep Your Head to the Sky" appear alongside a variety of objects that carry symbolic weight in African American culture and history. Each object is linked to a network of 18k gold chains, not unlike charms on a bracelet. The velvet flocking acts to shift meaning from the literal to the metaphoric. The gourds in this work reference the Big Dipper constellation once used as a navigational device on the Underground Railroad. The minerals attached, Obsidian, quartz and Tourmaline, are believed to shield against negative energies, dissolving emotional blockages and ancient trauma. The cowry shells speak to black labor on whose backs road the economy of the colonial Atlantic. Coral elements reference the artist's own Afro-Caribbean roots. The velvet coated resin hands that support the chains are casts taken from the hands of the artist and his wife. For Villalongo, love and family provide the strength to persevere and the will to find the Way. To quote the words of Earth, Wind and Fire...Keep Your Head to the Sky.