Zbigniew Urbalewicz was born in 1968 in Dobre Miasto in Warmia (Ermland). In 1996, he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń with the Dean’s Prize. He obtained his diploma in printmaking (linocut) at the Faculty of Graphic Arts under the supervision of Professor Ryszard Krzywka. Since 2004 he has been working at the Institute of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, where he teaches courses in composition, lettering and graphic design. He works mainly in the fields of printmaking, design, calligraphy and drawing. Western and Far Eastern calligraphy occupy an important place in his work, which he studies, researches historically and artistically and uses in some of his works. He has participated in more than eighty international and national solo and group exhibitions, including at the invitation of calligraphers from Japan. In 2007, at the invitation of the Department of Côtes-d’Armor, he participated in the Brittany Art Biennale as a representative of the Polish artistic community. He is a participant and winner of competitions. He has been giving workshops and demonstrations, mainly calligraphy, ink painting and printmaking, for many years. He was twice a scholarship holder in Japan, where he studied calligraphy, Japanese language and culture. He is a member of the Warmian-Masurian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, co-founder and board member of artists foundation “Breakthrough”. For the last three years he has been successfully the manager of the “Pump House” gallery of the Institute of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Art. He collects Japanese art and popularises art in society. Privately, he enjoys hiking, playing bass guitar, cycling, practising jōjutsu and cooking. 

In his work he often uses sign and writing, which he uses in her personal record, working mainly in drawing and printmaking techniques on paper, his favourite substrate. He experiments with techniques and with paper, creates her own inks, paints, uses natural materials, all available and handmade drawing tools. He mainly uses liquid art materials: Japanese sumi ink, ink, pigment ink, paints. He values any tool that leaves a trace, disturbing the surface, including one that has no pigment at all. He also explores the realm of the small space of time between concept and trace, which stems from his interest in writing, calligraphy, printmaking and drawing. Important to him is the gesture, the drawing, the letter in all its forms as a means of expression and a medium to achieve his artistic goals. He takes inspiration from the letter, ideogram and pictogram by using them in his personal graphic notation, and rarely makes advanced sketches of works.