The title came from a famous Latin quote by Julius Caesar in 47 BC, 'Veni, vidi, vici' which stands for 'I came, I saw, I conquered' as a comment on his short war with Pharnaces II of Pontus in the city of Zela (currently known as Zile, in Turkey). As a deaf artist, I am inspired by a deaf artist, Mary Thornley's 'Milan, Italy 1880', to whom she was inspired by a deaf artist, Francesco Goya's 'The Third of May 1808'. I did the painting as in celebrating our conquer over the 130 years infamous Milan 1880 Congress. The International Congress on Deaf Education (ICED) was held in Vancouver, Canada in July 2010 and made an announcement, a regret and rejection of the eight resolutions that were passed at the Milan 1880 Congress. It took 130 years to see this has come to an end, especially for the Deaf people in the past had suffered under the oralist regime, did not live to see this. Now, this is a new era. In the painting, the hands waving have overcame the 'oralism' soldiers falling and defeated. At the early dawn, the sun rises to brighten the day as the new era has arrived.

 

See the video link about 'We Came, We Saw, We Conquered' narrated by Patti Durr, a professor on Deaf Studies/Deaf Cultural/Deaf Art at NTID/RIT.

There is a hidden message in the painting.