Jennifer Knaus (b. 1962) is a painter whose richly detailed portraits explore the relationship between human identity and the natural world. She earned her B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1985 and M.F.A. from the University of California, Davis, in 1992, and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1991. Combining portraiture, still life and botanical imagery, Knaus creates fantastical compositions in which figures emerge from elaborate arrangements of flowers, foliage and decorative patterns. Drawing inspiration from Northern Renaissance painting, natural forms and ornamental design, her work blurs distinctions between the real and imagined. Knaus has exhibited widely, including at the New Britain Museum of American Art, Littlejohn Contemporary in New York and Five Points Gallery in Connecticut. She received fellowships from the Greater Hartford Arts Council (1999) and Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism (2006).