The portraits presented here are from an ongoing series titled Vatis Species whose Latin to English translation is 'Phantoms of Quality'. In this series of portraits, the artist presents a grouping of ghosts from a bygone era, when the use of the hand had yet to be replaced by the computer. Drawn on antique notebook papers, book covers and stamp-saver booklets, each of the portraits are mounted to vintage postcards, and presented in a format akin to trading cards.

Mepaintsme (pseudonym) is an artist and curator who lives and works in the United States. He received a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and attended artist residencies at AICAD, New York Studio Residency Program (New York, NY) and the Santa Fe Masters Program (Santa Fe, NM). For the past 30 years, he has worked as an illustrator and painter. He currently runs the online gallery MEPAINTSME with his partner, and is the sole curator behind the @mepaintsme Instagram account.