Who is Ursaboy?

Biography-

Ursaboy (born Kyle Ballew, 2002) is a painter from San Antonio, Texas. What began in 2020 as a Minecraft YouTube channel eventually evolved into a creative identity spanning video, TikTok, and visual art. Now based in San Marcos, he is completing a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in painting at Texas State University (Fall 2025).

Working primarily with acrylic, palette knife, and acrylic marker, Ursaboy creates layered compositions that blend media, sports, pop culture, and personal life with themes from his Catholic faith. His style balances comedy with darkness and reflects the spiritual and emotional complexity of modern young manhood. His work often serves as both personal testimony and cultural reflection.

In 2024, he was awarded a merit prize in the TXST Student Juried Exhibition. Through his art and story, Ursaboy seeks to expand God’s kingdom on Earth.

Artist’s Statement-

I began Ursaboy in 2020 as a Minecraft YouTube channel, never imagining it would become the identity through which I’d discover my voice as a painter. What started as playful online creation gradually transformed into something deeper: a pursuit of truth, vulnerability, and spiritual expression through fine art. Since then, Ursaboy has evolved into a personal mission—where my creative process and Catholic faith are inseparable.

I work almost entirely in acrylic, using palette knives and acrylic markers to build raw, layered surfaces. I rarely begin with a finished image in mind. Instead, I lean into uncertainty, trusting the act of painting itself—often guided by intuition, memory, or prayer. My work is deeply influenced by sports, music, grief, humor, and media—filtered through the lens of modern masculinity and spiritual yearning. The result is a mix of chaos and clarity, a visual language that wrestles with the contradictions of being young, alive, and searching in today’s world.

I paint to understand and to testify. Every canvas is both a confession and a construction site—a place where my hands work out what my heart is trying to say. As my walk with Christ deepens, my art has become a form of worship and witness: bold, imperfect, and honest. It’s my way of offering something true back to the world.

Artist CV

Education-

Texas State Bachelor of Fine Arts with Concentration in Painting Fall 2025

(in progress)

Showings-

TXST 2024 Student Juried Exhibition - Merit Award Winner

TXST advanced painting hallway show Spring ‘24

TXST advanced painting hallway show Summer ‘24

All That We Are Group Exhibition, Dunbar Rec Center, San Marcos TX, April ‘25

Accomplishments-

TXST College of Fine Arts & Communication Council of Scholars Inductee 2025

Sold multiple paintings at Ursaboy.com and TikTok Shop