ALT Picture of “Good Grief” from Andrea Gibson’s book, “You Better Be Lightning” Let your heart break so your spirit doesn’t.

ALT Margaret Atwood, John Waters, Glory Edim, and Others Tell VF Readers How They Are Finding Solace in Art Beloved authors, filmmakers, activists, and artists share the cultural touchstones they’re turning to this week—plus more picks from the VF staff. By Keziah Weir

ALT “I’ve been thinking about Lee Bul, a preeminent Korean artist. Back in 1989, for a performance piece called ‘Abortion,’ Lee hung nude from the rafters of a Seoul arts center while she talked to viewers about her experience of an abortion. Trussed in ropes while she talked, she also licked a lollipop. Abortion wouldn’t be decriminalized in Korea for another 32 years, and then, as now, there were a lot of societal and legal restrictions on how much a woman could let herself be seen. Lee was a touchstone artist for me while I was working on my recent novel Exhibit, and the daring of her work is calling to me again. You can see her sculptures at The Met right now, as part of the façade commission, four figures sparkling and gleaming with imagined life.” —R.O. Kwon, author of Exhibit