Inhale the Universe: Alexander Guzman’s Journey From Comics to Canvas

“It's more than just simply making a piece. It feels like you're genuinely putting yourself on a paper or canvas,” says 24-year-old fine artist, Alexander Guzman.

Photo of Alexander Guzman

The Jersey native’s interest in art first sparked from his childhood love of Marvel and DC comic books.

“It was always the vibrancy of the characters that has always made me go, ‘if someone can do it, why can't I?’” said Guzman.

More specifically, he felt a special connection to Spider-Man due to the character’s relatability.

According to Guzman, Spider-Man is “the personification of hopeful optimism. When you see him in action, it's hard not to be captivated.”

Because he didn’t always feel accepted by others for liking comics and superheroes, he was drawn to the community he noticed at Arts High School in Newark. While running errands with his grandmother, they drove past the school and saw students playing with lightsabers.

“I remember going, ‘yeah, that’s my people right there,’” said Guzman.  “[Comics] felt like such a taboo thing, and often, you’d be made fun of for it. To see it celebrated in front of a bunch of students and the freedom of them to just go ahead and feel silly to do that in front of all their peers. Yeah, that right there was the moment I was like, ‘yep, I found my school.’”

He graduated from Arts High School in 2019, when he officially began his art career. Inspired by artists like Mark Bagley, John Romita Sr., and Todd McFarlane, he developed a unique style that blends elements of American comic books and Japanese manga with fine art.

“I believe that you can bring the comic book aesthetic to fine art and still have it have the gravitas of fine art,” says Guzman.

He created a brand called Inhale the Universe, a pun on how art saved his life, much like his inhaler has.

“I like the pun of inhaling the universe, that thing that gives you life, not only as an inhale of creativity but also exploring what the mind could possibly do,” says Guzman. “When people look at my art, they’re often asking ‘how did you come up with that?’ and it’s the breath of creativity that comes in and allows me to go ahead and create what I do.”

During the COVID-19 quarantine, the scarcity of art supplies led him to explore digital art for the first time. He learned that digital art can be a way to draw without limitations.

“There's so much that you can do with it that it also feels like a never-ending treasure chest,” says Guzman. “Fine art has limitations because it is physical. I can’t just select a layer and move it around.”

Despite these newly found avenues for creativity, he still prefers the tangible nature of fine art on canvas because it allows him to hold and display a piece immediately upon finishing.

Last year, Guzman took on the challenge of creating a six-foot painting—the largest he’s ever attempted.

“It was the hardest thing I ever did at the time,” says Guzman. “I drafted that piece upward of 10 to 12 times. I didn’t want to sacrifice detail by making an art piece so big. I wanted it to look as if it were the same art piece from a smaller paper, just blown up. There was so much space, it gave me the opportunity to add more flair.”

Remnants of Love by Alexander Guzman

This challenge, along with his newly developed digital skills, led to the creation of his first comic book, Tales Across the Cosmos. What started as a continuation of the 6ft piece became a sci-fi thriller following Zeno, who was recently resurrected to a time when the landscape and reality itself are constantly shifting, as he tries to piece together his memories on a journey through the universe.

Volume 1 Cover of Tales Across the Cosmos

The first two volumes of Tales Across the Cosmos are available at Fortress of Solitude in Newark, with shipping options available upon contacting Guzman directly.

“It was such a euphoric feeling seeing my book next to Spider-Man,” says Guzman. “It was such a big deal. Technically, it's kind of small just seeing two books next to each other, but growing up being so excited to create something that is your own and seeing it next to something that inspired you, it’s reassurance that I’m doing what I’m meant to do.”

He hopes to complete and release volume 3 of the comic this year and, eventually, expand the universe he created by making Tales Across the Cosmos an anthology series that follows multiple protagonists. In general, he hopes his art inspires others to share their creativity in the same way that the artists before him inspired him.

“I fell in love with the idea of Tales Across the Cosmos not only being an expression of me as an artist but becoming something where people can go ‘hey, that character Zeno could totally beat this superhero,’ and it’s a conversation far more than what I thought it could be,” says Guzman.

At its core, his passion for art isn’t just about learning new skills but turning his imagination into a reality.

“It is the complication of the human mind being able to put it on physical media. And that within itself has always been so exciting,” says Guzman.

To keep up with Alexander Guzman and all his work follow him on Instagram.