About

Emily Madden

Creator, founder, owner and operator of Thready or Knot upholstery & designs

Emily Madden is a fiercely ambitious, self-taught upholsterer, and the owner of Thready or Knot Upholstery and Design. Throughout her practice as a businesswoman and artist, she has cultivated and maintained an unwavering passion for texture, color, and form. Emily transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, breathing new life into forgotten furniture by blending the worlds of past, present, and future into her restoration projects.

Over the years, she has unapologetically claimed space in the local artist community, challenging narratives that her practice and others like hers are craft as opposed to conceptual and functional art. Despite challenges, she has persisted in her work to make a name for herself and bring textile art to spaces designed for traditional mediums through collaborating on a public fiber mural and showcasing new-media textile art in local shows.

As a woman working in a male-dominated industry, she has learned to reframe traditional understanding of upholstery by harnessing her empathetic nature. Madden connects to her clients through emotion, blending their individual stories and relationships to the piece with the furniture's craftsmanship and history to create an item that is crafted with integrity, awareness, and celebrates both the furniture itself and the journey the human has had both with the piece and in their wider life as an ever-evolving human.

After high school Emily Madden wasn’t sure who she wanted to be in the world. When post-graduate plans fell through, she felt lost. Madden decided to start taking upholstery courses at Canadian Valley Vo-tech to learn a new skill and stimulate her curious mind. What she didn’t expect was to fall in love with the craft and the art of upholstery, quickly learning that what began as a cure to boredom would be a lifeline. Before taking her career full-time, Madden committed to a year of self-discovery and cultural exploration from 2017-2018.

During that time, she traveled to 13 countries, teaming up with local humanitarian organizations. While traveling, she felt inspired by the lifestyles led outside of the US, characterized by passion and care for their communities. When she returned stateside, Madden felt more at peace living a non-conventional lifestyle, driven by creative expression. Ultimately, she rooted herself into OKC, where she continues to build and nurture an authentic life, finding healing and safety through fostering community. 

Madden’s work illuminates the fabric of our lives, creating a world where we have permission to take a deeper look at what has been weaved and woven into our reality, and grant ourselves permission to reimagine that fabric, literally and metaphorically, when metamorphosis calls. 

Madden envisions a world where artistic expression transcends class, gender, and race, crafting works that radiate hope and belonging to all who view them. Her authentic mixed media pieces remind viewers of their inherent worthiness in the face of adversity, and that change as an unavoidable part of life, can be a celebrated transformation. 

In an industrialized world filled with mass-produced goods, Emily Madden's dedication to her craft serves as a reminder of the transformative power of art to elevate the everyday and illuminate the extraordinary nature of our most cherished possessions and of ourselves.

XO,

EM