My name is Alexis Leyva Machado but since I was a kid every one has called me Kcho.

I was born in Isla de la Juventud a small island one hundred kilometers south of the coast of Cuba.

At 16, I came to Havana to study at the national art school and I've never returned to the island.

I'm here at the El Morro, getting my work ready for the Sixth Havana Biennial. It's a project I've been working on this year. It's called The Infinite Column.

My studio has always been the streets. Some of the places I go are the docks for wood. I go along the shore and pick things up that the ocean brings from shipwrecks. These things end up at the shore and the dock. I use all these things in my work.

For me, these things that float (boats) cause a very passionate reaction. They respond to the sea as a very beautiful barrier that stops at the (island).