BIO
Melissa Townsend is an artist, independent scholar, writer, teacher of Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy, as well as an internationally known psychic. Currently based in San Francisco, CA, she graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, after which she lived in New York City for many years.
During that time, she showed her artwork, including at The Drawing Center, The Knitting Factory, and in various group shows. Her visual poetry, Ransom Notes, have been published in literary Journals such as Noon, Story Quarterly, Conjunctions, and Central Park, and were on display in the Whitney Museum.
In the mid 1990’s, her work as an astrologer and psychic gained attention and media recognition. She was featured on television, radio, and in national and international newspapers and magazines (including The New York Times, New York Magazine, and the New Yorker).
Choosing to retreat from the world of media engagement, she embarked upon a path of spiritual study and practice, including the study of Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy. When she returned to painting, the motivation was as a means of spiritual practice and philosophical inquiry.
In 2011, she began the work for which she is currently most known: translating as well as painting the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. This work invites the viewer to engage with complex philosophical issues in a sensory way, rendering metaphysical inquiry available through the aesthetic experience and the language of visual art. The paintings serve as a visual meditation on the transformative power of spiritual practice and offer a unique perspective on the integration of art and spirituality.
Since 2015, Townsend has been invited to exhibit and talk about this work at philosophical conferences, universities, and ashrams, in the United States, Europe, and India. She has published articles in philosophical journals and textbooks, and has published books with her translation, commentary, and the original painting for each of the sūtras for Books One, Two, and Three (The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali – A Visual Meditation)(Samādhi Pāda, Sādhana Pāda, and Vibhūti Pāda) and is working on Book Four, Kaivalya Pāda.
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EDUCATION
BROWN UNIVERSITY Providence, Rhode Island. B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa.
MEMPHIS ACADEMY OF ARTS Memphis, Tennessee. Full Scholarship with stipend.
Selected Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2025 Sweet Briar College, VA. The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali – A Visual Meditation: Samādhi Pāda.
2025 Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. Karma and Liberation: Kaivalya Pāda as Art
2025 University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Painting Liberation – Kaivalya Pāda.
2024 California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali – A Visual Meditation: Vibhūti Pāda.
2024 Hosted Exhibition, NYC. Selected Vibhūti Pāda, Book Release.
2024 Love Story Yoga, San Francisco, The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali – A Visual Meditation: Vibhūti Pāda,Book Release.
2023 Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. Art as Practice: Sādhana Pāda.
2023 University of San Francisco, CA. Art as a Means of Philosophical Inquiry, The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali– A Visual Meditation, Part II
2023 University of San Francisco, CA. Art as a Means of Philosophical Inquiry, The Yoga Sūtras of Patanjali– A Visual Meditation, Part I
2015 Samādhi Pāda, (Complete), Summer School Gallery, San Francisco. Book Release.
2013 Samādhi Pāda, Selected, Summer School Gallery, San Francisco.
1995 Gallery 2/20, NYC. Paintings and Sculptures
1990 The Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. Ransom Notes Collection.
1990 The Knitting Factory, NYC. Ransom Notes
Group Shows
2025 Spring/BreakNY Art Fair, “Painting Liberation.” Curated by Liz Collins.
2025 Spring/BreakLA, Virtual
2010 THE SPARE ROOM PROJECT Small Works
2009 THE SPARE ROOM PROJECT The Fiber Show
1996 45O BROADWAY GALLERY, NYC. Desolation and Glee, Group Show.
1996 GALLERY 2/20, NYC. The Book, Group Show.
1989 THE DRAWING CENTER, NYC. “Selections 43.” (Ransom Notes)
1990 GALLERY 71, NYC; Group Show.
1989 TENTH ST. GALLERY, NYC. Group show.
PUBLIC PROJECTS/INSTALLATIONS
1999 SOLAR ECLIPSE PROJECT. Public art project
1999 MILLENIAL ASTRO-ART PROJECT, Commissioned by Josh Harris.
Selected Philosophical Conferences & Invited Talks
2025 Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy Conference (SACP), University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Invited talk, plenary session
2025 South Asian Studies Association (SASA), Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. Invited 2024 East-West Philosophers’ Conference, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Trauma and Healing: Panel presentation on Yoga philosophy.
2024 South Asian Studies Association (SASA) Annual Conference, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
2023 Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy Conference, University of San Francisco, Invited talk, plenary session
2023 Ananda Ashram, World Sanskrit Day, Invited presenter
2022 Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Invited lecture on The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali – A Visual Meditation.
Publications
The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali – A Visual Meditation
2015 Book One: Samādhi Pādaḥ
2018 Book Two: Sādhana Pādaḥ
2020 Meditation Deck, Book One, Samādhi Pādaḥ.
2024 Book Three: Vibhūti Pādaḥ
(2026) Book Four: Kaivalya Pādaḥ
Selected Magazine Articles, Literary Journals, and other Publications
2018 THE PARIS REVIEW, featuring Ms. Townsend's sculptures
2018 YOGA JOURNAL, Sutra 1.9, Painting, text, & commentary, THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI – A VISUAL MEDITATION. BOOK ONE, SAMDHI PADAH.
2018 YOGA JOURNAL, Sutra 1.14, Painting, text, & commentary, THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI – A VISUAL MEDITATION. BOOK ONE, SAMDHI PADAH.
2018 YOGA JOURNAL, Sutra 1.38, Painting, text, & commentary, THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI – A VISUAL MEDITATION. BOOK ONE, SAMDHI PADAH.
2014 NAMARUPA, magazine, Cover, article, and artwork featured: Sanskrit Paintings: The Siva Mahimna Stotram
2001 NOON; 8 pages, featuring “Doll” sculptures
1996 MS. Magazine, inside cover, Ransom Notes
1994 STORY QUARTERLY, NYC. Cover. Ransom Notes: Masked figure; Sweet and Sour Sauce
1992 CONJUNCTIONS, #19. NYC. Ransom Notes
1992 STORY QUARTERLY, NYC. Cover, Ransom Notes, “By Air Mail.”
1991 CENTRAL PARK, NYC. Ransom Notes “A Strange, Lean Woman.”
Peer-Reviewed Articles
2024 Embodying Patañjali in a Visual Art Practice – Vibhūti Pādaḥ. The Journal of Dharma Studies (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s42240-024-00190-z
(2026) Chapter on Art as Spiritual Practice for an upcoming Brill publication on philosophy and spiritual practice.
Other Books and Publications:
2018 The Subtle Tarot
2018 The Subtle TarotEmbodying Patañjali in a Visual Art Practice – Vibhūti Pādaḥ. The Journal of Dharma Studies (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s42240-024-00190-z
1999 JOEY BABY; Children’s Book, ©1995, ISBN #0-9678426-0-3. Privately financed.
1998 THE MELISSA TOWNSEND TAROT (originally THE EL TED’S TAROT), ©1994. Published by New Line and AOL. Sold at the Whitney Museum Bookstore.
1998 DREAM TAROT, ©1996 Tarot Deck, ©1996, Artist’s Book; ©1998; DVD Film, produced by Choice Point Media, 1999. Featured on WALL OF FICTION, 1996.
1998 URBAN GYPSY FORTUNE TELLING CARDS, ©1998. Original divination system, cards and interactive electronic game. Published on THE HUB, AOL.
1989 RANSOM NOTE COLLECTION; featured at the Whitney Museum.
Teaching (selected)
Yoga Philosophy and Sanskrit Educator
2025-2026 California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), Adjunct Faculty, Instructor
The Yoga Sutras, textual, philosophical, and visual meditation practices.
2024 California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Invited Course Lecturer for Yoga Sutras class, focusing on textual, philosophical, and visual meditation practices.
2023 San Francisco State University Invited course Lecturer for Yoga Sutras Class.
Since 2011– ongoing: Teaching Sanskrit and Yoga Philosophy for Yoga Teacher Trainings in collaboration with various Ashrams and Yoga Schools.
Since 2015 – ongoing: workshops on the Yoga Sūtras, Sanskrit, Yoga Philosophy, and Creativity as Spiritual Practice in collaboration with various Ashrams and Yoga Schools.
RADIO & PODCASTS
2021 Monica Phillips Yoga and Spirituality podcast
2018 YOGALAND – with Andrea Ferretti
1996 WBAI, NYC. Interview with Matthew Finch, Arts in the Evening.
Extensive Television, Magazine, and Newspaper coverage
Primarily for psychic, tarot and astrological work, as well as reviews of tarot decks, and regular columns. List available upon request.
Artist’s Statement
Painting Liberation: A Visual Ontology of the Path Within
A visual ontology denotes the way visual forms (paintings, sculptures, or media) shape or influence our understanding of existence or truth.
The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali is a philosophical text that describes the path to complete freedom. This freedom is always there for us. It is closer than our breath. It is who we are. We think that we are a certain person, of a certain age and gender, from a certain place, with friends, family, a certain income and career, but reality is not what we think it is. We are not what we think we are. We are vast. Infinite, pure, deathless, beyond concepts of time or space, the elements or organs of perception – that is our true nature. We are pure consciousness. There is no paradise more pure, more complete, more perfect than the recognition that we are, indeed, already everything that we are searching for: eternal, perfect, complete. This is the awareness that the Yoga Sūtras aim to reveal to the practitioner.
But, as the text explains, the real problem has to do with our mind, with what we think and feel, and with our ingrained identification with all that thinking, feeling, identifying, “me” stuff that goes on inside. Understanding the nature of the mind and its relationship to pure consciousness, then, is key to breaking this habit of misidentification.
How does artistic practice illuminate the philosophical questions about the nature of mind, consciousness, and liberation as articulated in Kaivalya Pāda, Book Four, the culminating chapter of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali? Through a series of paintings that visually translate these sūtras, we see that art offers a unique, experiential means of engaging with the complex relationship between the mind (citta) and consciousness (puruṣa).
The paintings function as a form of visual ontology, inviting viewers to engage with abstract philosophical concepts in a sensory, tangible way, rendering the metaphysical inquiry of the Yoga Sūtras available to us through the aesthetic experience and the language of visual art, not just through discursive reason, and in so doing, can bring new aspects of the material to light. By depicting the interplay between the mutable processes of the mind and the unchanging awareness of consciousness, these works explore how yoga philosophy bridges the gap between mind and reality in the pursuit of liberation – a liberation that is our birthright, but which we fail to see.
Art thus serves as an epistemological bridge, offering a new perspective experience of the nature of mind and reality as revealed in the Yoga Sūtras, making the text accessible and experiential through the integration of visual art and metaphysical inquiry.