Back Draft: Emma McMillan

Artist Emma McMillan unearths the subjects for her paintings in archives. Reaching into the halls of the past, she uses her brush to achieve a kind of conversion, breathing new life into forgotten narratives.

This spring, the Bronx-based painter turned her attention to the Paul Rudolph Foundation, where she fell in love with one of the late architect’s murals. Depicting the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders, the mural was commissioned for another architect’s townhouse, though its whereabouts are currently unknown. What led to its disappearance, and what was the mural doing in that house to begin with? McMillan decided to create her own rendition. Then COVID-19 struck. Returning to her canvas months later, after a long battle with the virus, the painter made dramatic changes to her work-in-progress. When I spoke with her, she talked about the comfort she found in the Bible, Caravaggio and queerness, and what can happen when things get to spend