José Fabio Esquivel (b. 1974) is a contemporary charcoal artist whose work explores liminal territories and psychological landscapes through dramatic chiaroscuro technique. Working exclusively in charcoal on paper, Esquivel creates highly detailed compositions that examine the emotional states of individuals existing at society’s margins. His practice transforms spaces of potential isolation—urban thresholds, forest clearings, and architectural boundaries—into what he terms “transitional refuges.”

Esquivel’s current body of work, the “Liminal Sanctuaries” series, represents two years of intensive exploration into threshold spaces where displaced individuals find unexpected refuge. Drawing from his background in psychology and distinctive perceptual sensitivity, combined with extensive study of European and Russian academic drawing traditions , his compositions function as visual psychology experiments that capture the subtle narratives existing in everyday spaces. His artistic development progressed from classical portrait, still life, and landscape studies to his current personal expression through charcoal, requiring 40-60 hours per work to achieve the atmospheric depth and psychological precision that characterizes his practice.

Born in San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica in 1974, Esquivel studied Philosophy and later Psychology with psychoanalytic focus. He dedicated himself to drawing, concentrating on portrait, still life, and landscape before transitioning to charcoal to develop a more personal artistic expression. He maintains his studio in Alajuela, Costa Rica, while developing work for North American and local collectors. His integrated practice includes the interest for furniture design, which informs his exceptional ability to render architectural spaces with psychological precision. Esquivel is currently seeking gallery representation and preparing his “Liminal Sanctuaries” series for exhibition.




“My works represent liminal and psychological spaces and landscapes that embody, in a material and representative form, the moods and existential states of those who are marginalized from their own kind, who suffer from loneliness but even more so from the impossibility of ever not being alone. Passing through these spaces is a journey of pain and acceptance. But at the moment of drawing, there is no anguish; these scenes do not come with any unpleasant feelings, they are charged with an almost magical anticipation, and for this reason, I believe, they are linked to literary magical realism. There is something wonderful about them, something supernatural, because the melancholy they evoke in me is sweet and the result of having left behind, perhaps, the most difficult and frightening part of the journey.

The fascination that chiaroscuro exerts on me is something I don’t fully understand, perhaps because it allows one to focus on essential messages without distraction. Dramatic chiaroscuro is, for me, more emotional and eloquent than color; it is the effective vehicle for what I want to convey because it is also the stuff of which alleys, forest clearings, and poorly lit sidewalks are made. And it is precisely these places where exiled individuals find themselves and understand their condition as outsiders. These are borderline states where individuals who do not understand their place end up migrating, and there they entertain themselves by contemplating nature or anything inert that catches their attention and distracts them. But nature and these urban spaces also have a warmth for this subject, because in their company they do not suffer the harm that their fellow human beings sometimes cause them. It is a place where they can find peace; it is their home.

The confluence of certain urban and natural spaces, the play of light, the chiaroscuro that characterizes them in the imagination, and finally, the personal emotional catharsis that takes place in them. These are the three elements that come together in my art.”
José Fabio Esquivel