Jennifer passed away peacefully at home in Montreal with her husband and daughter at her side. Jennifer was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer in January 2017, which metastasized to her liver. With her characteristic strength and positivity, she maintained an optimistic outlook from the beginning of her diagnosis, and defied the life expectancy odds she was given. She developed a great rapport with the incredible team at the Jewish General Hospital, and would often make the doctors and medical staff laugh.

Jennifer was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to John Kenneth Gordon and Ruth Hearn Maclean. She grew up on the Apex oil fields near Fyzabad, where her father worked. This wild area of Trinidad was made up of forests, swamps, and pitch lakes, and this geography would later influence much of her art. She attended Codrington High School in Barbados, and came to Quebec for grade 11 at King’s Hall, Compton, in the Eastern Townships, where she excelled in art, languages, acting and music. She studied Fine Arts at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, from 1970 - 1974, and spent her summers working in Lake Louise. She graduated in painting and printmaking, and keen to master silkscreen printing, she joined Open Studio in Toronto, paying bills by dashing around the city on her bicycle, picking up contracts editing, proofreading, and teaching.

Jennifer moved to Montreal in 1977 for graduate school, working on conceptual and feminist issues through performance and multimedia, while exploring a sense of place through photography and painting. In 1979, with her Masters in hand and her new Canadian citizenship, she began her teaching career at Concordia University and joined the dynamic art scene in Montreal.

In 1981 she met Paul Smith, who was a senior art student at Concordia. His kind, shy demeanor and wacky sweaters won her over. They married at her parents’ house in Invermere, BC in 1986, and had a daughter Isobel in 1991, the year Jennifer started her position as Professor at the University of Lethbridge, AB. Her artist book “Choosing the Dots - Avoiding the Holes”, followed by a large solo exhibition “the sky is failing”, caught gallery owner Leo Kamen’s attention, and Jennifer would go on to exhibit regularly at his Toronto gallery. Numerous artworks of hers are found in public collections across the country. In 2002, she put teaching aside for full-time artmaking and a move back to Montreal.

Jennifer was a loving and supportive partner and mother, who took great interest in the lives of those she loved. She was incredibly encouraging and caring, and invested much of her time in helping others. She remained dedicated to her parents, who she dearly loved, and was faithful to all the great friends she made over the years. Her West-Indian wit filled her life and those around her with humor, teasing, and much laughter.

She will be greatly missed by her husband Paul, her beloved daughter Isobel and partner Kevin, her brother Robert and wife Linda, and all her wonderful family and friends. Her spirit will continue to inspire those who knew her.

A celebration of her life will take place in the spring.

A memorial fund has been set-up in Jennifer’s name for cancer research at the Jewish General hospital for anyone wishing to donate.

jghfoundation.org or by phone 514-340-8251