Tyler Los-Jones
Water’s brief surfaces - Roundleaf Orchid
December 5, 2025—March 15, 2026
Informed by the land where he lives, near the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Tyler Los-Jones’s work complicates inherited assumptions by bringing forth the unnatural aspects of the Western conception of nature. At the same time, he highlights the historical role photography plays in the production and fulfillment of our expectations for the environment.
The Bow River has been a central figure for Los-Jones's family living in proximity to it for the past several years. Contemporary Calgary’s location in the river's vicinity provided a point of connection for this project, generating two intimate views – one from the Rockies, near the headwaters of the Bow, and another near the artist’s current home in the city. These two works were conceived site-specifically, to inhabit opposite sides of the same gallery wall, interior and exterior. They are both composed using the same pattern, flipped horizontally to mirror each other. The pattern comprises two threads looping together from edge-to-edge in a gesture that echoes the exhibition’s theme and the artist’s relationship to the sites.
Taken in 2021 when the artist lived in Banff, Los-Jones’s original photograph for this work features Roundleaf Orchids (Galearis rotundifolia). These orchids grew alongside a small offshoot of the Bow River in the Rockies, very similar in scale to the section of the river in Bowmont Park where the companion image was produced.
In recent, related series, the artist has explored the significant energy plants devote to producing exquisite flowers, especially within challenging mountain ecosystems. Present in astonishing numbers at this site, the orchids were displaying their incredible aesthetic expression developed over millennia as an adaptive way to elicit multi-species engagement and mutual benefit.
Water’s brief surfaces - Roundleaf Orchid is supported by The City of Calgary’s Downtown In Motion Grant Program and is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Entwined. Curated by Mona Filip.
About the Artist
Tyler-Los Jones
(he/him)
Tyler Los-Jones (he/him) produces objects and images from his home near the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. His work aims to complicate inherited assumptions of environments and highlight unnatural aspects of the Western conception of nature. Los-Jones is fascinated by the role that photography plays in shaping and fulfilling expectations for environments. Since graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design (now Alberta University of the Arts) in 2007, Los-Jones’ photographic and sculptural work has been exhibited extensively across Canada and in the US. He has been commissioned to produce multiple large-scale public artworks, including A panorama protects its views for the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton) and To Keep the Promise at the Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel. His most recent public artwork, Knit by roots and wings, was installed in Kelowna, BC, in September 2024.
About the Curator
Mona Filip
(she/her)
Mona Filip is the Chief Curator at Contemporary Calgary. With an idea-driven and dialogue-focused approach, Filip collaborates with artists to produce experiential installations that transform the familiar white cube, meaningfully respond to unconventional environments, and engage the public on sensorial, emotional and intellectual levels. Originally from Bucharest, Romania, she received her BFA from the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC, and her MFA from SUNY at Buffalo. Filip’s curatorial experience spans more than forty exhibitions and site-specific projects, collaborations with guest curators, a broad range of public programs, and innovative educational initiatives. Over two decades, Filip developed critical visual art programs supporting the production of new works, introducing national and international artists to Toronto with first local exhibitions, and positioning both gallery spaces and urban sites as forums to generate critical, cross-cultural discussions on global concerns.
