Taking up space does not come naturally to me as an artist. Particularly physical space. Up to this point in my career, my works have averaged 159 square inches, or about 11" x 14" in size. This is a comfortable size for me. A panel of this scale is affordable to purchase, easy to handle, easy to ship and easy to store. But lately I've been re-examining this preference and considering the idea that my desire for convenience may be limiting the potential impact my art could otherwise have if it was larger.

I recently visited The Broad museum in Los Angeles and was struck by how massive the majority of artworks they had on display were. This Keith Haring painting for example, measures 10 feet square.

Keith Haring, taking up space with his painting "Untitled," 1984.

There is a power felt when being in the presence of an artwork that is literally larger than life. As a viewer, you can't help but feel a sense of reverence when standing next to an object that is larger than yourself. Smaller paintings can possess power too, but it's harder to come by as it requires a viewer to stop and sit intimately with the work.

Thinking about this has motivated me to push myself to work on a larger scale. Although I can't help but feel a hesitant voice inside me that wonders, "is this idea BIG enough?" In other words, does what I have to say warrant taking up this much space? It's definitely a confidence issue that I need to work on.  The current collection of paintings that I am making are all at least 24" tall, or about 576 square inches on average. After visiting The Broad, I'm realizing that even these measurements could still be considered small by many artists' standards. I'm determined to keep pushing myself into uncomfortable territory though and go larger with each new set of paintings I embark on. Becoming more familiar with working big until I grow to have no doubt that a 10 foot square canvas is worthy of my voice.

I would be interested to hear from other artists: What factors help you to decide how large an artwork should be?